The Bill Press Pod

Bill and the Rev. Jim Wallis discuss the aftermath of the 2024 U.S. presidential election and the troubling moral and ethical implications of Donald Trump's victory. Wallis is the inaugural holder of the Chair in Faith and Justice and the founding Director of the Georgetown University Center on Faith and Justice. Wallis expresses deep concern that the election of Trump, someone who openly repudiated basic values of honesty, decency, and respect, reveals a profound crisis of character and values in American culture.

Wallis argues that Trump's rise was enabled by grievances, fears, and a sense of abandonment among many Americans, particularly the working class, who felt shut out by the political establishment.

Wallis suggests this election has revealed the strength of racism, sexism, and Christian nationalism in American politics, which worked to undermine the candidacy of Kamala Harris.

Wallis calls on faith leaders and people of moral conviction to resist the normalization of Trump's authoritarian tendencies through nonviolent actions, civil disobedience, and a renewed commitment to the core values of truth, justice, and compassion.

Overall, the conversation emphasizes the deep moral and spiritual reckoning required in the wake of Trump's election, and the need for principled resistance grounded in timeless human values.

You can order Jim’s latest book, The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy here.

Today's Bill Press Pod is supported by the Laborers’ International Union of North America. More information at LIUNA.org.

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Trump. Gaetz. Musk. Advise and Consent? GOP Wins House. Abortion Not Salient. Dems in Disarray. State of the Resistance. With Jason Dick, Editor in Chief at CQ-Roll Call, Arthur Delaney, Political Reporter at Huff Post and Evan McMorris-Santoro, Reporter and co-author of the Morning Newsletter at NOTUS. 

Today's Bill Press Pod is supported by The Ironworkers Union. More information at Ironworkers.org

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Bill discusses the implementation of Project 2025 with David Pepper, former Chair of the Democratic Party in Ohio and author of our special podcast series, Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal. Project 2025 is a draconian blueprint for a second Trump term prepared by the Heritage Foundation. And now we face the implementation across all elements of society. The discussion covers the dangers of Project 2025, including the weaponization of the Department of Justice to target political opponents, attacks on women's healthcare and abortion rights, weakening of labor unions and worker protections, and the replacement of scientists and experts with unqualified political appointees. Pepper warns that while some elements of Project 2025 may not be implemented, the Trump administration is poised to move quickly on many fronts to enact its extreme agenda. Pepper and Bill urge continued vigilance and activism to document, call out, and build opposition to these efforts to undermine democratic institutions and norms. You can follow David’s work at DavidPepper.substack.com

Today’s Bill Press Pod is supported by The United Food and Commercial Workers Union. More information at UFCW.org

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Bill and three top Washington journalists on the surprising result of the election, with Sudeep Reddy, Senior Managing Editor at Politico, Ginger Gibson, Senior Washington Editor at NBC News and Igor Bobic, Senior Politics Reporter at HuffPost. 

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It's Election Day but we won't know the outcome for many hours, or even days. After we voted, there's not much more we can do. So today we're offering an alternative to politics, an interview with one of the most prolific spy novelists in history. He was Bill's producer at CNN and now Daniel Silva is the internationally acclaimed novelist whose main character Gabriel Allon, has captured the imagination of people all over the world. This episode is for you to relax and enjoy and get your mind off politics for just 1/2 an hour. Here is a link to Daniel Silva's page on Amazon which has all of his 27 best sellers. We'll be back on Friday with our Reporters Roundtable to figure out just what happened today.

Today's Bill Press Pod is supported by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, the workers we meet in our daily lives at our supermarkets drug stores and even cannabis dispensaries. More information at UFCW.org.

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Hate Fest at the Garden. Harris at The Ellipse. Trump: Shoot Liz. Women’s Secret Ballot. Which Issues Matter? Michelle Addresses Men. Who Will Win? With Philip Bump, Washington Post National Columnist and author of the How To Read This Chart newsletter, Lynn Sweet, Columnist and Washington Bureau Chief at the Chicago Sun-Times and David Jackson, National Political Correspondent for USA TODAY.

Today’s Bill Press Pod is supported by The Laborers' International Union of North America. More information at LIUNA.org

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Chapter 12 chronicles the demise of our fictional magazine, Capital Monthly. The pressure from the White House, from advertisers and from Social Media algorithms kills the independent journalism that was documenting what life was like under Donald Trump's second term guided by Project 2025. As our host, Bill Press, of The Bill Press Pod says in the episode:

“It’s not too late to change some minds. The election is a few days away and still most people have not voted. If you have a friend or family member that has not decided whether to vote, or whom to vote for, this is your chance to make a difference. If this series frightened you, made you even more fearful of a Trump second term, perhaps it can have the same effect on someone you know. Please share this series or even a single episode that might speak to that person's special interests. All twelve episodes are in your podcast app and available for sharing. Or you could direct them to go to 2025 pod.com. If we all do something, as Michelle Obama says, even small things like this, we can make a difference and save our Democracy from Donald Trump and Project 2025.”

We’d like to thank all the artists who volunteered their time to make this series. Especially the talented sound designers Marilys Ernst and Jonathan Moser who worked on every episode. Trump's Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is written by David Pepper and produced by Pepper, Melissa Jo Peltier and Jay Feldman and is a production of Ovington Avenue Productions and The Bill Press Pod.

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In Chapter 11, set in November in Tallahassee, fictional Florida, Governor Buck Bryce confidently addresses the press regarding Hurricane Timothy, initially predicted to be a manageable Category 1 storm. However, the hurricane unexpectedly strengthens to a devastating Category 4 upon landfall, causing widespread destruction and significant loss of life. The governor, previously assured by Washington that all preparations were sufficient, is confronted with the reality of inadequate storm forecasting due to recent cuts to federal meteorological services as proposed by Project 2025.

As emergency response efforts falter, Bryce grapples with the new federal policies under Trump that make it difficult to declare emergencies and provide immediate assistance to affected businesses and citizens. The narrative highlights the consequences of disregarding climate science and federal data, resulting in death and destruction

As always, the series author, David Pepper ties the fiction to the facts in Project 2025 and Trump’s own words.

We'd like to thank all the artists who volunteered their time to make this episode:

Mark Ruffalo who read the chapter and others who contributed character voices. 

Sound design by Jonathan Moser.

Trump's Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is written by David Pepper and produced by Pepper, Melissa Jo Peltier and Jay Feldman and is a production of Ovington Avenue Productions and The Bill Press Pod.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The two leading mental health professionals, Dr. John Gartner, formerly a Visiting Professor at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the man behind the Duty to Warn Twitter feed and Dr. Vincent Greenwood, Founder and Executive Director of The Washington Center for Cognitive Therapy, warn that Donald Trump exhibits signs of serious mental and cognitive decline, including malignant narcissism and early-stage dementia. They argue that Trump's deteriorating mental state poses an existential threat to American democracy if he were to be re-elected, as he would be incapable of carrying out the duties of the presidency and could make erratic and dangerous decisions. The experts emphasize that Trump's mental and cognitive issues have worsened significantly in recent months and that his re-election would be highly concerning given the rapid acceleration of his decline.

Today's Bill Press Pod is supported by The American Association of Government Employees. More information at AFGE.org

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Focus on Georgia. Trump to NYC. Harris to TX. Who’s Gonna Win? Kelly: Trump Fascist. Trump Sex Scandal. Trump Threatens Press. With Maya King, Politics Reporter covering the south for The New York Times, Gabe Debeneddetti, National Correspondent for New York Magazine and Jeff Dufour, Editor in Chief of The National Journal. 

Today’s Bill Press Pod is supported by the American Federation of Teachers. More information at AFT.org

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