Steph is back!

Two chatty best friends talking about politics, ways to cope with life and stress and shows we're watching as democracy hangs in the balance. (We do cover rape, sexual assaults and how it's being discussed today versus ten years ago. We packed a lot in.)

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Born into the Children of God cult and trafficked as a child, Daniella escaped to the U.S. at 15, put herself through school to become a U.S. Army intelligence officer who deployed twice to Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne Division, and now studies Organizational Psychology at Harvard Extension School, researching group behavior, extremism, leadership demagoguery, and cults.

Topics: What happens to the MAGA cult when donald is gone; how cult leaders manipulate individuals and how certain personality traits can make people susceptible to joining cults; MAGA Movement's Decline and Patriarchy; Matriarchy and Sexual Assault Solutions--and why we should come at the Epstein Files from a matriarchal perspective; white women who hold up patriarchy and the challenges of helping someone exit a cult, particularly regarding political beliefs, how to organize against fascism and so much more!

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Sarah Wood is back, and she's started a new social media consulting business!

Relevate Strategies

Topics: Democratic primaries look good for Dems; donald wants to cancel the 2026 midterms--but he's going to have a hard time; donald's poor health; rage against the patriarchy is rising; FB is now the National Enquirer and much more!

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My guest is Lisa Parker AKA Mamaw's Porch n Politics. She's a liberal woman who lives in rural Ohio and was raised in Appalachia, and her political commentary has caught the attention of thousands of voters. Her social pages are growing quickly because her message resonates so deeply.

Topics: Lisa (Mamaw) says she continues to see a decline in trump supporters in rural Ohio; how rural MAGA is responding to ICE/Epstein and other issues "they didn't vote for."; Lisa has some great ideas about electoral reform--how to make voting and the process easier; young people are getting involved in saving democracy and so much more!

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Topics: The Texas Senate race (with emphasis on Jasmine Crockett); Dems are winning special elections and primaries with big percentage points--good news for November; ICE - it'll get worse before it gets better but it will get better because Americans are not having it; donald is old and sick, so we discussed what it may look like if JD gets in...all that and more.

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Greg Olear is back! He's the author of Rough Beast, PREVAIL columnist & podcaster, and co-host of The Five 8 on YouTube.

Topics: Sh*ts f*ucked up and we talk about it. Esptein (Greg had an interesting theory on what could be a smoking gun); fascism; general strikes; and I ended with a lil rant.

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Sarah Burris is a reporter at Alternet. Former: Raw Story, AlterNet and Salon.

Topics: The repercussions of ICE murdering Renee Nicole Good; the resignation of six Justice Department prosecutors in Minneapolis; the escalating actions of ICE and the public's response; donald's mental state; we also touched on the horrific accounts of what William Sasha Reilly says happened to him at the hands of donald trump. (We did not go into the details, just the overview. Because it's incredibly dark.) All that and more. 

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Sarah and I discuss the aftermath of the ICE murder of Renee Nicole Good. We emphasized that the current regime will escalate their cruelty and that voters must not allow all of the cruelty to crush their spirit. We covered a variety of issues but our main focus was on how we maintain sanity while we beat fascism.

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Jody Hamilton, co-host of The Politics Bar podcast, is back for the last Start Me Up of 2025!

We talked about the tragic deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner, and Jody offered up great advice on how to handle people going through grief. We also chatted about dealing with MAGA family members; the desire for sweeping progressive changes when democracy is back; the potential for a 2026 midterm blue tsunami and Mike Johnson is in TROUBLE...all that and more!

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We chatted about aging--the good, the bad and the ugly. We shared personal stories and then we talked about how democracy will be restored. It's a fun, hopeful show with lotsa laughs. We're besties and we never plan what we discuss. Come join us! 

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