In 2023, Laura Mullen was just another fed up mom. Fast forward to 2026, and she is an elected school board member and the Ohio programs director for Red Wine & Blue, an organization dedicated to mobilizing the now infamous “organized gangs of wine moms” pushing back against authoritarianism in Ohio and across the country.

FIRE SALE: Black "Against Extremism" tote bags - order by May 21!

If you had told Laura back in 2023 that just three years later she would know state representatives’ names and have strong feelings about them, she would have said you were crazy. If you had told her back then that thousands of Ohioans would come to her for advocacy guidance, she wouldn’t have believed you. But it’s true.

Red Wine & Blue’s presence in Ohio is no joke. It’s a big network that’s growing fast, with more than 60,000 members in Ohio alone. No wonder why they’ve got Trump and allies so worried.

Laura, Ainslee, & Maria discuss how suburban moms and their allies can channel their frustration into tangible actions that help their local communities while disrupting the status quo. They discuss how to make advocacy fun, and share how each of them decompress after a long day of kicking ass.

Perhaps most importantly, they discuss how the small staffs at OAE and RWB rely on each other to do their best work, and why supporting our organizations’ work supports tens of thousands of Ohio advocates that look to us for leadership.

Support Red Wine & Blue

Support Ohioans Against Extremism

Finally, while they didn’t get to it on the pod, Red Wine & Blue is having an advocacy day at the Statehouse this coming Tuesday. Check out more information below about the lobby day and training calls beforehand. If you’re ready to start your advocacy journey, here’s your chance!

Episode Information:

Recorded: Monday, March 16, 2026

In this Episode: Maria Bruno, Ainslee Johnson-Brown, Laura Mullen

Produced, Edited, and Recorded by: Devin “Dev Draper” Palmer and Tareya Palmer

Join Red Wine & Blue on March 24 for an Ohio Statehouse Lobby Day!

Future in Focus: Lobby Day for the Ohio We Deserve Tuesday, March 24, 2026 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM ET

Do you care about Public School funding? Vouchers? Immigration? Health care? Voting rights? Data Centers? Countering Extremism? Saving Democracy? You don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need political experience. You just need to care about the future of our state — and be willing to raise your voice for it.

PRE-LOBBY DAY PREPARATION CALLS:

Lobby Day Training Evening session Thursday, March 19, 2026 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM ET

OHIO Testimony Preparation Session Sunday, March 22, 2026 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM ET

Support Our Work

Thanks for listening. Our work is sustained through the generous support of everyday Ohioans, not billionaire bankrollers. Please consider becoming a monthly supporter. Ever $5 a month can make a big difference.

More from Ohioans Against Extremism

Join our Community Partner Network

Join a diverse network of community partners and take advantage of private planning sessions, exclusive safety resources, a free spot at OAE’s training sessions, and more. Learn More.

Coffee with Us

Join Ohioans Against Extremism at the Columbus Library to drink coffee, decompress, and discuss the stuff that keeps us hopeful and motivated

Get the weekly “This week @ the Statehouse” into your inbox every Monday!

We send weekly dispatches from Hell the Statehouse. Each week, we provide a brief overview of what we’re paying attention to as we monitor the Ohio Legislature. We will flag bills that are moving, bills we’re fighting for or against, and provide timely reminders about other things advocates should be thinking about.

Make sure to sign up for our email alerts to get this summary right to your inbox every week.

Join the Helpers Cohort

The Helpers Cohort offers mentorship, networking, and skill-building opportunities to “politically homeless” activists in Ohio. This cohort will help experienced activists find their next pet project and help newer activists learn how their strengths can make a difference in the fight against extremism.

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ICYMI: WTF is Going on @ The Ohio Statehouse Webinar 2/24/26

In this special episode, we replay our Tuesday webinar discussing legislation under consideration at the Ohio Statehouse. Learn about bills being considered, then take action!

Warning: It’s a lot. Remember, you don’t have to fight every battle. Pick a couple bills to focus on, then get to work!

Presenters:

Maria Bruno, Ohioans Against Extremism

Emily Cole, OFUPACCriminal Justice (5:00 - 9:09)

Jona Hilario, OPAWLImmigration (9:30 - 20:45)

Spencer Dirrig, Ohio Environmental Council Action FundEnvironment (20:57 - 27:38)

Danielle Firsich, Planned Parenthood of Ohio Healthcare (27:46 - 32:03)

Josh Meek, Equality Ohio LGBTQ+ Rights (32:12 - 41:03)

Christina Collins & Rachel Coyle, Honesty for Ohio Education Education (41:27 - 50:15)

Criminal Justice (5:00 - 9:09)

Presenter: Emily Cole, OFUPAC

Bills discussed:

* SB 321 - *bad* - Allows “special police officers” to be armed while escorting patients, patrolling grounds, operating medical detectors in behavioral health hospitals

* SB 295 - *bad, signed into law* - Extended competency restoration to three years for aggravated murder, murder or where life in prison is possible sentence

* HB 338 - *pushing amendment* - Creates survivorship benefits for COs; eliminates higher education/rehabilitation program access, tablet access for residents in max security

* HB 548 - *GREAT!* - Mandatory substance use and alcohol screening after every use of force incident for all peace officers

Take Action: Follow OFUPAC to get action alerts and legislative updates

Immigration (9:30 - 20:45)

Jona Hilario, OPAWL

Bills discussed:

* ICE Bills

* HB 26 - require law enforcement cooperation with ICE

* HB 281 - require hospitals cooperate with ICE

* HB 200 - require local govt and LE cooperate with ICE

* HB 42 - require agencies including schools collect immigration and citizenship data

* SB 172 - require officials allow arrests with or without warrants anywhere

* HB 544 - expands scope of obstruction of justice

* Dems’ immigration bill package - 8 bills

Take Action: Sign up for updates from OPAWL, stay tuned for action alerts if one of the bills keeps moving

Environment (20:57 - 27:38)

Spencer Dirrig, Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund

Bills discussed:

* HB 303: Sponsored by Rep. Ray (R) and Rep. Hoops (R) - Establishes a Community Energy Pilot Program, capped at 1,500 megawatts total. 500 MW reserved specifically for distressed sites and commercial or public rooftops

* SB 329: Sponsored by Sen. Hicks-Hudson (D) and Sen. Smith (D) - Prohibits the surface application of brine from oil and gas wells on roads in Ohio

Take Action:

* Ask Senate Energy Committee Chairman Sen. Chavez to schedule hearings on HB 303!

* Ask Senate Natural Resources Committee members to move forward to SB 329 for Ohio’s health and safety.

* Keep up with Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund for future calls to action.

Healthcare (27:46 - 32:03)

Danielle Firsich, Planned Parenthood of Ohio

Bills discussed:

* SB 309: would force providers to deliver a state-written disclosure that frames medication abortion as unusually dangerous; includes civil & criminal liability for providers

* SB 310: fetal development video required in any school instruction related to human growth or sexuality

* HB 347: reinstates the 24-hour waiting period before an abortion procedure and forces providers to give medically inaccurate information about the risks of abortion

* HB 324 (attack on medication abortion) and HB485 (Baby Olivia Act) passed the House in November and have been referred to the Senate.

Take Action: Sign up for alerts from Planned Parenthood of Ohio for calls to action

LGBTQ+ Rights (32:12 - 41:03)

Josh Meek, Equality Ohio

Bills discussed:

* Slate of Hate

* HB 693: Parental Right to Harm Bill - Enshrine discriminatory anti-LGBTQ+ principles into nearly every aspect of Ohio’s child welfare and family law system

* HB 249: Drag Ban - Legally defines drag performances and being transgender as “obscene”

* HB 172: Emergency Youth Mental Health Access - Repeals Emergency Youth Access to Mental Health Services Without Parental Consent

* Slate of Love

* HB 136 (Rader, Lett) & SB 70 (Antonio): Ohio Fairness Act

* HB 300 (Brownlee, Lett) & SB 71 (Antonio, Liston): Conversion Therapy Ban

* SB 211 (Antonio): Designate Love Makes a Family Week

* HJR 4 (Synenberg, Somani): Marriage Ballot Initiative

* HB 327 (Brownlee, Brewer): P.R.I.D.E Act - LGBTQ+ Healthcare

* SB 221 (Antonio, Smith): Equality Ohio License Plate

Take Action: Sign up for updates from Equality Ohio to get action alerts about these bills.

Education (41:27 - 50:15)

Christina Collins & Rachel Coyle, Honesty for Ohio Education

Bills discussed:

* Good Bills!!

* HB 25 — Support for students in foster care

* HB 523 — “Future Educators Support Act”

* Funding threats

* HB 698 — SB1 Compliance Act

* HB 671 — Withhold funds from school districts that join the Vouchers Hurt Ohio lawsuit

* Curriculum related bills:

* HB 326 — Classic Learning Test)

* SB 113 / HB 155 — K-12 Diversity Ban

* SB 156 / HB 269 — “Success Sequence”

* SB 34 — Ten Commandments in public schools

* HB 485 — “Baby Olivia”

* HB 486 — Charlie Kirk

* Other Bills:

* HB 153 / SB 107 — Partisan school board races

* SB 127 — State can close schools

Take Action: Keep up with Honesty’s legislation tracker and sign up for updates.

Read more about the bills we’re tracking: OhioBills.WTF

Thank you for your patience as we transition to the new tracker. Email [email protected] for inquiries and tips.

Rely on our tracker? Please consider supporting our work.

We don’t have any billionaire friends, and we don’t paywall our updates. We rely on the generous support of Ohioans like you to keep us going. Please consider becoming a monthly donor. Even $5/month can make a big difference.

Quick Statehouse Links

This Week’s Action

The Ohio Senate

The Ohio House

Get the weekly “This week @ the Statehouse” into your inbox every Monday!

We send weekly dispatches from Hell the Statehouse. Each week, we provide a brief overview of what we’re paying attention to as we monitor the Ohio Legislature. We will flag bills that are moving, bills we’re fighting for or against, and provide timely reminders about other things advocates should be thinking about.

Make sure to sign up for our email alerts to get this summary right to your inbox every week.

More from Ohioans Against Extremism

Coffee with Us

Join Ohioans Against Extremism at the Columbus Library to drink coffee, decompress, and discuss the stuff that keeps us hopeful and motivated

Join the Helpers Cohort

The Helpers Cohort offers mentorship, networking, and skill-building opportunities to “politically homeless” activists in Ohio. This cohort will help experienced activists find their next pet project and help newer activists learn how their strengths can make a difference in the fight against extremism. This is a free program with limited space.

Join our Community Partner Network

Join a diverse network of community partners and take advantage of private planning sessions, exclusive safety resources, a free spot at OAE’s training sessions, and more.

Support & Follow Ohioans Against Extremism

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There has been a coordinated effort to paint immigrants and poor people as fraudsters and freeloaders taking advantage of taxpayers. But who gains the most when we focus on the little guys? The big guys.

The truth is, if we are going to care about fraud — real fraud — we need to look at the folks that are profiting off of a broken system: the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.

Inspired by a recent video from More Perfect Union, Maria & Ainslee return to a topic that Ainslee wrote about last year about: corporate greed.

Ainslee & Maria discuss ways you can organize to proactively protect your communities from the real fraudsters. They end with previewing a few new programs kicking into gear next month. More information about those programs are below.

Links from this episode:

* More Perfect Union full video

* Next week’s webinar RSVP

* The Helpers Cohort application

* March 27 Coffee with Us RSVP

* Ohio Equal Rights Seasonal Connections Toolkit

Episode Information:

Recorded: Tuesday, February 17, 2026In this Episode: Maria Bruno, Ainslee Johnson-BrownProduced, Edited, and Recorded by: Devin “Dev Draper” Palmer and Tareya Palmer

Support Our Work

Thanks for listening. Our work is sustained through the generous support of everyday Ohioans, not billionaire bankrollers. Please consider becoming a monthly supporter. Ever $5 a month can make a big difference.

More from Ohioans Against Extremism

Webinar: WTF is Going on The Ohio Statehouse?!

Join Ohioans Against Extremism to learn about bills being considered in the Ohio Legislature and ways you can take action to make a difference. Get caught up on what’s gone down so far and what experts and insiders expect to happen next. Yes, it will be recorded.

Coffee with Us

Join Ohioans Against Extremism at the Columbus Library to drink coffee, decompress, and discuss the stuff that keeps us hopeful and motivated

Get the weekly “This week @ the Statehouse” into your inbox every Monday!

We send weekly dispatches from Hell the Statehouse. Each week, we provide a brief overview of what we’re paying attention to as we monitor the Ohio Legislature. We will flag bills that are moving, bills we’re fighting for or against, and provide timely reminders about other things advocates should be thinking about.

Make sure to sign up for our email alerts to get this summary right to your inbox every week.

Join our Community Partner Network

Join a diverse network of community partners and take advantage of private planning sessions, exclusive safety resources, a free spot at OAE’s training sessions, and more. Learn More.

Support & Follow Ohioans Against Extremism

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Editor’s note: We will just say sorry now — Ainslee has some microphone tech issues throughout the episode. We did our best to adjust, apologies for any hearing difficulties!!

S2 Ep 3 - This Year in Ohio Politics: Which Way Will We Go From Here?

In this episode, Ainslee and Maria give you a break from national political madness to discuss… Ohio political madness.

Ainslee & Maria debrief about the community response to ICE’s recent visit to Columbus. They discuss why community network-building isn’t just busy work — in an emergency situation, it can be lifesaving!

They also discuss the stakes of the Governor’s race, specifically how the next Governor will be the most consequential person on our 2026 ballot in deciding the direction of Ohio’s future.

Finally, Ainslee & Maria preview a couple new programs on deck for Ohioans Against Extremism: a Helper’s Cohort for newer activists, and coffee meet-ups for frustrated Ohioans. More information on both to come, but you can sign up here to be the first to know about application details and deadlines for the Helper’s Cohort.

Episode Information:

Recorded: Wednesday, January 7, 2026 at 1pm

In this Episode: Maria Bruno, Ainslee Johnson-Brown

Produced, Edited, and Recorded by: Devin “Dev Draper” Palmer and Tareya Palmer

WARNING: Next week is BACK TO THE STATEHOUSE!

Before we go, we feel obligated to mention that it’s official: our break from Statehouse madness officially ends next week. We’ve already gotten word about hearings on a few anti-abortion bills and a handful of committees are convening. TBD on how much damage they’ll try to cause on their first week back , but be sure to subscribe to our updates to stay in the loop!

Support Our Work

Thanks for listening. Our work is sustained through the generous support of everyday Ohioans, not billionaire bankrollers. Please consider becoming a monthly supporter. Even $5 a month can make a big difference.

DONATE

More from Ohioans Against Extremism

Get the weekly “This week @ the Statehouse” into your inbox every Monday!

We send weekly dispatches from Hell the Statehouse. Each week, we provide a brief overview of what we’re paying attention to as we monitor the Ohio Legislature. We will flag bills that are moving, bills we’re fighting for or against, and provide timely reminders about other things advocates should be thinking about.

Make sure to sign up for our email alerts to get this summary right to your inbox every week.

Join our Community Partner Network

Join a diverse network of community partners and take advantage of private planning sessions, exclusive safety resources, a free spot at OAE’s training sessions, and more. Learn More.

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The Ohio Legislature has finally gone home. Hopefully for the year. There is a possibility that they return for more shenanigans mid-December, but we are crossing our fingers that they find literally anything better to do with their holiday season.

While they’re on break, we’re going to focus our weekly updates on different policy issue areas to help readers better understand the chatter around some of the more controversial bills being considered in the General Assembly.

But this week, since it’s a holiday, we’re focusing on a different topic: getting the f*ck off your phone.

So here’s a short rant essay on why deciding to live in the real world is the best way to stick it to tech billionaires.

The best way to undermine billionaires is to get off your f*cking phone.

“After this episode, then I’ll start my laundry,” you say, watching the 13th autoplayed episode of the reality show you barely like.

“I’m still listening, I’m just looking at something real quick” you say, watching the clip of your favorite actor’s girlfriend’s mom explaining how she thinks vaccines work.

“Let me just check my socials one more time before bed.” You say, bracing yourself for horrifying videos of death and destruction right before you try to fall asleep.

Every single day, for hours on end, most of us stare at our screens consuming headlines and opinions and entertainment curated for us by billionaires that control the algorithms. The internet rabbit holes are infinite and addictive – by design. We scroll and scroll and scroll our social media feeds, looking for the next witty quip to consume and reshare.

You won’t find anyone arguing, “it was totally worth 3 hours of my day to be the 79th person to retweet that Joe Rogan clip.” And honestly, we are all pretty unanimous in believing that staring at our phones all day is bad. But few of us actually work to spend less time doing it.

Thanks to tons of scraped data, our corporate overlords can target our personal insecurities, grudges, and trigger issues. They study your behavior every time you ask google how much water your plants need. They track your news consumption, buying habits, search terms. They’ve read about your weird mole, too. They know you spent 38 minutes studying that lady from work’s instagram. They know if you’ve been bad or good. Tech billionaires have real-life, Santa-level surveillance on all of us, with none of the accompanying presents.

The owners of our ever-consolidating media conglomerates have a goal, and that goal is more money, more power, and more complacency. They show us what we need to see in order to get their desired behavior out of us. They want us scared, angry, hopeless, and exhausted. This is how they keep us hooked. This is how they keep us compliant. Algorithms weaponize your weaknesses – and keep you in your virtual information bubble. But you can stop playing along at any time.

This may all seem quite doom-and-gloom but there’s a silver lining to all this: digital power is fragile. And so, so breakable. Billionaires bleed millions just from their websites being down for a few hours.

We are a couple organized boycotts away from undermining the power of all the right people. They know it, too. But that will never happen if everyone stays addicted to their social media slop. Our feeds prop up fringe narratives, reward name-calling, and monetize hate. Some of the biggest IRL losers are “King of the Trolls” on social media.

The real world hits back harder, and that can be a good thing. Online, the richest guy in the world has millions of people forced to hear his ideas. In real life, he asks a computer to feed him jokes so people might talk to him at parties. It’s not exactly a mystery why he’d rather be shitposting than attempting to make real friends in real life.

Billionaires are a lot less scary when you think of them in terms of their heartbeat rather than their net wealth. The biggest antagonists in American politics are a handful of clowns with everything to lose, walking in mile-high stilts they have no business wearing.

And they’re hoping we never figure out that all we have to do to get away from them is throw a banana peel: Look away from the screens and live in the real world.

This week is a great time for you to practice. Make cookies. Go on a hike. Play a board game. Do… anything!

Just please, please, get the f*ck off the phone.

In this episode: Maria Bruno

Thanks for listening. Please consider supporting our work.

We don’t have any billionaire friends, and we don’t paywall our updates. We rely on the generous support of Ohioans like you to keep us going. Please consider becoming a monthly donor. Even $5/month can make a big difference.

Support Our Work

Get the weekly “This week @ the Statehouse” into your inbox every Monday!

We send weekly dispatches from Hell the Statehouse. Each week, we provide a brief overview of what we’re paying attention to as we monitor the Ohio Legislature. We will flag bills that are moving, bills we’re fighting for or against, and provide timely reminders about other things advocates should be thinking about.

Make sure to sign up for our email alerts to get this summary right to your inbox every week.

More from Ohioans Against Extremism

Join our Community Partner Network

Join a network of 45+ community partners and take advantage of private planning sessions, exclusive safety and planning resources, a free spot at OAE’s training sessions, and more.

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Today we have a conversation with John Patterson, a former state representative and State Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency who has spent his career fighting for his community. He’s also the last rural Democrat to be elected to the Ohio Statehouse, and is likely to continue to hold that title for the foreseeable future.

We discuss Patterson’s journey from educator to elected official, his experience working across the aisle, and his concerns about the hardships facing Ohio farmers.

Patterson is best known for the “Cupp/Patterson school funding bill”, which attempted to overhaul the funding formula for Ohio’s public schools. The conversation gets a bit into the weeds, so here’s a little context for those less familiar with Ohio’s Public School funding saga:

Context: A very, very brief history of education funding in Ohio

In 1997, Ohio’s school funding formula was ruled to be unconstitutional in a decision mentioned several times throughout this episode, the “DeRolph Decision”. This ruling required that Ohio overhaul its school funding formula, a requirement that went unaddressed by the Ohio Statehouse for another 20-something years. A full chronology of the DeRolph decision can be found here.

It wasn’t until our friend John Patterson got on the scene and teamed up with a Republican legislator, Bob Cupp, to finally fix school funding and pass the Fair School Funding Plan, colloquially known as the Cupp/Patterson Plan.

But not so fast. Since that funding plan passed and both primary sponsors termed out, Ohio Republicans have failed to enact the formula, and instead favored private school vouchers (also recently found to be unconstitutional) and disinvesting from local schools, forcing heavier reliance on property taxes.

So the fight for fair school funding is far from over.

Thanks for listening. Our work is sustained through the generous support of everyday Ohioans, not billionaire bankrollers. Please consider becoming a monthly supporter. Ever $5 a month can make a big difference.

Episode Information:

Recorded: Wednesday, October 22, 2025 at 4pmIn this Episode: Maria Bruno, Ainslee Johnson-BrownProduced, Edited, and Recorded by: Devin “Dev Draper” Palmer and Tareya Palmer

More from Ohioans Against Extremism

Get the weekly “This week @ the Statehouse” into your inbox every Monday!

We send weekly dispatches from Hell the Statehouse. Each week, we provide a brief overview of what we’re paying attention to as we monitor the Ohio Legislature. We will flag bills that are moving, bills we’re fighting for or against, and provide timely reminders about other things advocates should be thinking about.

Make sure to sign up for our email alerts to get this summary right to your inbox every week.

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Join a network of 45+ community partners and take advantage of private planning sessions, exclusive safety and planning resources, a free spot at OAE’s training sessions, and more. Learn More.

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This Monday, we cohosted our quarterly(ish) WTF is Going on the Ohio Statehouse?! presentation with our friends at Red Wine & Blue, and have repurposed the presentation as a special episode of the Ohioans Against Extremism Podcast.

We are joined by a handful of our favorite topic experts to debrief the 2025 election results and discuss pending pieces of legislation at the Ohio Statehouse. Here are the slides (with links) from Monday’s presentation.

We focus on the worst of the worst legislation under consideration, so don’t take this presentation as an all-inclusive list of the bills that we care about. And make sure to listen all the way to the end to hear about a few more bills some of our allies are paying attention to.

For a fuller overview of alllll of the bills we’re watching, check out our tracker, OhioBills.WTF.

Presenters:

Maria Bruno, Ohioans Against ExtremismLaura Mullen, Red, Wine & BlueRachel Coyle, Ohioans Against ExtremismCatherine Turcer (with pop-in from Mia Lewis), Common Cause OhioDanielle Firsich (which Maria definitely now knows how to pronounce!), Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio

Read more about the bills we’re tracking: OhioBills.WTF

Rely on our monitoring? Please consider supporting our work.

We don’t have any billionaire friends, and we don’t paywall our updates. We rely on the generous support of Ohioans like you to keep us going. Please consider becoming a monthly donor. Even $5/month can make a big difference.

Get the weekly “This week @ the Statehouse” into your inbox every Monday!

We send weekly dispatches from Hell the Statehouse. Each week, we provide a brief overview of what we’re paying attention to as we monitor the Ohio Legislature. We will flag bills that are moving, bills we’re fighting for or against, and provide timely reminders about other things advocates should be thinking about.

Make sure to sign up for our email alerts to get this summary right to your inbox every week.

More from Ohioans Against Extremism

Join our Community Partner Network

Join a network of 45+ community partners and take advantage of private planning sessions, exclusive safety and planning resources, a free spot at OAE’s training sessions, and more.

Learn More

Support & Follow Ohioans Against Extremism

Donate to Ohioans Against Extremism

Sponsor an OAE Program or Activist

Donate | Substack | Podcast | Facebook | Instagram | X | BlueSky

We’re baaaaaaccckkkkk.

The Ohioans Against Extremism Podcast is back with Season 2.

In our first episode of the new season, Maria and Ainslee discuss redistricting shenanigans, the No Kings protests, and dissect the bad faith attempt by the current administration to label political dissent — and by extent, half of the country — as extreme.

Plus, don’t forget to join us Monday at noon for a webinar that discusses WTF is going on at the Ohio Statehouse (more info below).

A couple updates since we filmed…

The car hitting a No Kings protestor was determined to be an accident. The person that had been harassing protestors was a different person from the one that hit the demonstrator with his car. There’s no indication that the car crash was intentional. Nonetheless, our point stands: it takes some cojones to protest Trump in “Trump Country”.

The Ohio Redistricting Commission passed congressional maps…unanimously. As we mentioned at the top of the episode, since we filmed, the Ohio Redistricting Commission passed new maps. Our friends over at The Rooster wrote up a pretty thorough summary of the behind-the-scenes horse-trading that went down to get these new maps. Decide for yourself which party ended up getting the better end of the deal. TLDR: it was an opaque clusterf*ck.

More about Ohio’s new congressional maps:

* Both parties get heat for Ohio’s new congressional district map as citizens look to future fights, Ohio Capital Journal

* Winners and losers with adoption of Ohio’s new congressional districts, Cleveland.com

Thanks for listening. Our work is sustained through the generous support of everyday Ohioans, not billionaire bankrollers. Please consider becoming a monthly supporter. Ever $5 a month can make a big difference.

Episode Information:

Recorded: Wednesday, October 22, 2025 at 4pmIn this Episode: Maria Bruno, Ainslee Johnson-BrownProduced, Edited, and Recorded by: Devin “Dev Draper” Palmer and Tareya Palmer

Join our webinar this Monday, where we will discuss WTF is Going On @ the Ohio Statehouse?!

If you’re looking for a more thorough update about the Statehouse and Ohio’s elections, join us this coming Monday at noon. We will share the issue advocacy priorities of our partners and allies. It will largely focus on the Statehouse but we will do a very brief summary of 2025 election results and 2026 election preview.

More from Ohioans Against Extremism

Get the weekly “This week @ the Statehouse” into your inbox every Monday!

We send weekly dispatches from Hell the Statehouse. Each week, we provide a brief overview of what we’re paying attention to as we monitor the Ohio Legislature. We will flag bills that are moving, bills we’re fighting for or against, and provide timely reminders about other things advocates should be thinking about.

Make sure to sign up for our email alerts to get this summary right to your inbox every week.

Join our Community Partner Network

Join a network of 45+ community partners and take advantage of private planning sessions, exclusive safety and planning resources, a free spot at OAE’s training sessions, and more.

Learn More

Support & Follow Ohioans Against Extremism

Donate to Ohioans Against Extremism

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Last week, our co-founder Ainslee Johnson-Brown received the J. Maynard Dickerson Community Service & Activism Award for the Class of 2025 Buckeyes Under 40, presented by The Ohio State University Black Alumni Society.

We couldn’t be more proud.

This distinguished recognition highlights young alumni who are making a powerful impact through service, leadership, and community engagement. It’s no wonder they thought of Ainslee. She was honored alongside an inspiring group of leaders and change-makers from across the country.

Organizing builds resilience and independence.

While accepting her recognition, Ainslee shares an important and timely reminder: we can’t get kicked out of rooms that we build and maintain ourselves.

The Ohio State University Black Alumni Society has leveraged “the room they built” by loudly pushing back against SB1 and other attacks to free and fair education. They’ve been working overtime to protect Black students from being denied education and career opportunities while statehouse politicians do everything they can to undermine their futures. That is exactly the kind of bold leadership that this moment requires.

Plus, they’ve got great taste in Awardees.

Listen to Ainslee’s comments, and maybe even show her some love by donating to Ohioans Against Extremism in Ainslee’s name.

Keep shining, Ainslee.

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We don’t paywall, and we don’t have billionaire friends. Our work is sustained through small dollar donations from fellow Ohioans against extremism.

Will you help us keep going and growing?

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September 11th is an incredibly tragic day in American history. In 2001, a terrorist attack resulted in three thousand people losing their lives, and many more suffering lifelong trauma and health issues. We can never lose sight of the tragedy that took place on that day.

Terrorism is a threat to democracy and freedom. It’s meant to scare you. It’s meant to build resentment towards each other. And that’s why we must always denounce it.

Let’s talk about what happened yesterday.

Yesterday, we (Maria & Ainslee) were scheduled to get together to film some cute videos showcasing recent citizen-led advocacy efforts in Ohio. Whether it’s ballot initiatives or protests, many in Ohio are mobilizing and inspiring others to do the same, and we hope to help folks learn from each other’s successes.

But literally moments before we were scheduled to record, we learned of the very public shooting of Charlie Kirk (Note: it would be only minutes after we finished filming that we learned he did not survive).

Kirk was not based in Ohio, but his influence over the conservative movement, and, in turn, the Republican Party’s policy agenda, is undeniable. He was a frequent headliner and perpetual source of social media content promoting what we would easily describe as extremist policies and rhetoric.

This was no friend to our work and our goals. Yet, in learning about the shooting, all we felt was an overwhelming sense of sadness. Sadness about how hostile our political system has become. And we felt fear that the shooting would be used as a pretext for more extremist violence.

So we pivoted.

Watch Maria and Ainslee’s raw reaction to yesterday’s shooting (or should we say, one of yesterday's shootings, since there was a school shooting in Colorado yesterday afternoon, too). There was no script. It’s not polished. But it’s honest. If nothing else, we can always promise you honesty.

We really do believe that the antidote for extremism and political violence is community-building and constructive dialogue. You might think that’s corny. Maybe it is. But we’d rather be corny than be in a gunfight.

This isn’t about giving anyone a post-mortem rebrand, or pretending that someone’s words and actions didn’t result in fatal consequences for others. We can appreciate why it’s difficult to muster up the empathy for someone being killed by gunfire when he has literally said empathy is made up and does damage and some gun casualties are “worth it”.

But you can’t just shoot people.

And sometimes it’s actually important to say that out loud.

Recorded: Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at 4pmIn this Episode: Maria Bruno, Ainslee Johnson-Brown

Related Episodes:

So, how can we get started building community? with Rachel Coyle & Tareya Palmer (August 2025)So You Want To Create Political Change with Tareya Palmer (May 2025)So, what’s up with white dudes? with Nick Chmura (April 2025)Words of hope: A holiday meal in a snowstorm (February 2025)

Before you go: Today, let’s honor the heroes of 9/11 by pressuring Congress to take care of them

We are thinking of and honoring all of those who lost their lives and their loved ones. We’re also thinking about the incredible heroes from that day, some of whom are still waiting for access to lifesaving medical care, and recently suffered further cuts to care thanks to Congress. We would be remiss if we didn’t mention, Congress can actually still show their gratitude for these heroes by taking action, and we all should be pressuring them to do just that.

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