The Heartlander Report

Stuart McMillian opens with two hard court stories: the lone holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy trial, Michael Desronvil, who says the focus belongs on the three children, and the aggravated-murder conviction of former American Idol contestant Caleb Flynn in the death of his wife, Ashley. The hour also covers the Department of Education restoring Title IX’s 1972 biological definition of sex, a Gallup finding that 41 percent of Americans now view socialism favorably, and a University of Missouri ban after a non-student advocated political violence at a Turning Point USA event. 

The center of the program is a Supreme Court order that Missouri use its 2022 congressional map in November, not the GOP-favored Missouri First map used in the primary. Rep. Bob Onder calls that a rejection of 1.2 million primary votes and argues the Missouri Plan hands judicial nominations to legal elites. Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt describes how anonymous sourcing still produces stories the White House says are false. The second half honors 12 educators at the Herzog Foundation’s Excellence in Christian Education Awards, with video remarks from Sen. Ted Cruz on school choice, and notes two Christian songs on the Billboard Hot 100.

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:01:13 – Clancy Juror Speaks
00:02:59 – Flynn Verdict, Title IX
00:05:18 – Campus Violence Debate
00:06:42 – Missouri Map Ruling
00:08:04 – Scrap the Missouri Plan
00:10:10 – How the Plan Works
00:13:36 – Proposition A Vote
00:13:59 – Leavitt on Fake News
00:16:48 – Amish, Coal, Chicago
00:17:31 – Christian Teacher Awards
00:19:25 – Cruz on School Choice
00:22:15 – Math Teacher Honored
00:26:21 – Christian Songs Chart 

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Michaela Estruth opens with President Trump at the United Nations, where he framed a choice over Iran, predicted pressure on Cuba’s regime, and said the government should call artificial intelligence “superintelligence.” An EPA official told Audrey Streb the administration wants AI to speed energy permitting. Senator Josh Hawley argues Missourians should vote on data centers and that no project should raise power or water costs. He also pressed Flock after a Senate hearing on its camera network, saying the company tracks more than license plates and that executives skipped the hearing.

The episode then covers a White House fight with CNN, Politico, and MS Now over press access, a judge’s order restoring those outlets, and FDA nominee Heidi Overton’s testimony on mail-order mifepristone. Estruth argues the administration is stalling on restoring in-person safeguards while states sue. Missouri also receives rural hospital money under the Rural Health Transformation Program. Stuart McMillian talks with Rep. Bob Onder after the Eighth Circuit kept the Republican-drawn Missouri First map for November, pending any last move by the Supreme Court.

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:00:30 – Trump Addresses the U.N.
00:01:42 – Pressure on Cuba
00:02:17 – Calling It Superintelligence
00:03:35 – AI Permits and Data Centers
00:06:20 – Hawley on Flock Cameras
00:07:26 – White House Press Ban
00:10:10 – Judge Restores Access
00:10:44 – Overton on Abortion Pills
00:12:00 – FDA Delay on Safeguards
00:16:54 – Missouri Rural Health Funds
00:19:51 – Missouri Map Battle

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Michaela Estruth discusses Vice President J.D. Vance's visit to Kansas City, where Operation Heartland Surge announced $245 million in recovered theft, charges against more than 80 people, and the suspension of 870,000 alleged PPP borrowers. Vance, Attorney General Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel said the work now extends to Medicaid, including claims that hospitals hid banned procedures for minors under other billing codes. Estruth asked Vance how to lock anti-fraud work into lasting law and whether Medicaid cases are on the list. He said the task force is looking, invited Democrats to join, and warned thieves that the way to get rich should be building something, not stealing from taxpayers. 

The episode also covers the Supreme Court blocking Trump’s mail-in ballot rules, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s Houston message that climate alarm is being used to scare the public, Texas’s new classical social-studies standards, and Nashville teachers who say they were pressured to change grades. After the break: Washington parents asking the Court to stop a runaway-shelter law, a Massachusetts family fighting state custody, and an Idaho bathroom-law settlement that paid a female student $34,000.

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:00:44 – Court Blocks Ballot Order
00:03:17 – G20 Energy in Houston
00:04:45 – Zeldin on Climate Rhetoric
00:06:38 – Texas History Standards
00:07:12 – Nashville Grade Pressure
00:09:06 – Vance Fraud Task Force
00:11:19 – Estruth Questions Vance
00:14:27 – Making Fraud Laws Last
00:18:38 – Washington Shelter Law
00:21:05 – Massachusetts Custody Fight
00:23:00 – Idaho Bathroom Settlement 

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Michaela Estruth marks two hard anniversaries in the same week: 25 years since the September 11 attacks and one year since the assassination of Charlie Kirk. President Trump hosted first responders and victims’ families in Washington and posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Wells Crowther, the “man in the red bandana.” Heartlander reporter Audrey Streb speaks with retired FDNY captain Tom Colucci, now a Catholic priest, who says the worst and best of that day strengthened his faith.

The episode also covers a first-of-its-kind Republican midterm convention in Dallas, a failed Nike shareholder proposal asking the company to study risks tied to gender-ideology advocacy, and Louisiana’s Fifth Circuit fight over mail-order mifepristone. Estruth reports that unregulated shipment of the chemical abortion pill can undermine state law, conceal coercion, and send women to emergency rooms. The second half returns to Kirk’s memorial through Frank Turek and historian Michael Federer, who urge listeners to reject rumor, honor a grieving family, and keep attention on the work Kirk left unfinished.

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:00:38 – Trump Hosts 9/11 Families
00:01:24 – Medal for Wells Crowther
00:03:06 – Firefighter Turned Priest
00:04:38 – Faith After the Attacks
00:06:06 – GOP Midterm Convention
00:08:19 – Nike Rejects Risk Study
00:10:08 – Louisiana Abortion Pill Case
00:11:24 – Coercion and State Law
00:13:28 – Emergency Room Aftermath
00:16:42 – Restoring Dobbs Promise
00:17:38 – One Year After Kirk
00:17:56 – Rumors Called Demonic
00:21:09 – Federer on Kirk’s Legacy
00:23:34 – Wisdom Meets Passion
00:25:56 – Unity Over Infighting 

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Dr. Josh Mann and Michaela Estruth lead with exclusive audio from a Kansas City, Kansas public-school meeting that later appeared in a first-of-its-kind Department of Justice lawsuit. The Civil Rights Division sued the district for facilitating gender transitions for minors without parental consent. Heartlander News first reported the meeting 18 months earlier. In the recording, officials discuss changing DEI titles after a federal crackdown, holding “underground railroad conversations,” looking for loopholes, and keeping a student’s preferred name from parents. One teacher describes a young student coming out at school and routing the matter through a social worker rather than the child’s father.

The episode then turns to growing concern over Flock license-plate cameras, including investigations, polling, and new data limits. Stuart McMillian reports on Turning Point USA’s PREP Year, a nine-month Christian classical alternative to four-year college now expanding to a second campus. He also interviews Show-Me Institute analyst Avery Frank on Missouri’s public-school staffing boom: fewer students since 2000, far more teachers and administrators, and salary dollars spread thinner across a larger workforce.

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:00:33 – DOJ Sues Kansas Schools

00:02:46 – Recorded Roundtable Meeting

00:03:56 – DEI Title Change Explained

00:07:04 – Searching for Loopholes

00:08:32 – Parental Rights at Stake

00:09:53 – Hiding Names From Parents

00:12:39 – License Plate Cameras

00:15:26 – TPUSA PREP Year

00:17:37 – Carrying Kirk’s Legacy

00:18:58 – Missouri Staffing Boom

00:20:09 – Fewer Students More Staff

00:22:26 – Teacher Pay Tradeoff

00:24:40 – Where the Money Goes

00:26:04 – Check Local Districts

Follow Heartlander News on Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.  You can also sign-up for our newsletter and follow our coverage at HeartlanderNews.com.

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Josh Mann and Michaela Estruth open with the death of Dolly Parton at age 80 after a brief battle with cancer. They reflect on her cultural impact, philanthropy, larger-than-life public persona, and the quieter faith she spoke about more openly in later years. The conversation then turns to President Trump’s executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America amid an escalating trade dispute with Canada. After talks collapsed, 50 percent tariffs on roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods took effect, with Canadian retaliatory measures scheduled for September 8. Estruth reports on Meta’s $17.1 billion settlement with 47 states over alleged harms to children on Facebook and Instagram. The deal includes some new parental controls but no admission of wrongdoing and leaves key algorithm practices intact. Additional stories include a California homeschool-charter case seeking Supreme Court review after religious language and curriculum were rejected, Israel’s high ranking on the World Happiness Report despite ongoing war, a devastating glacial outburst flood in Nepal, Iran-linked cyberattacks on U.S. water facilities, and new data showing record marijuana use alongside a historic low in alcohol consumption.

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:00:31 – Dolly Parton Dies
00:01:23 – Cultural Impact Recalled
00:02:13 – Faith and Public Life
00:03:51 – Lake Ontario Renamed
00:04:17 – Canada Tariff Standoff
00:06:44 – Meta Child Safety Deal
00:10:15 – Settlement Limits
00:12:16 – California Homeschool Suit
00:14:10 – Ninth Circuit Ruling
00:15:30 – Supreme Court Petition
00:16:24 – Israel Happiness Ranking
00:19:31 – Family and Fertility
00:21:38 – Nepal Outburst Flood
00:24:14 – Water System Hacks
00:26:09 – Marijuana Use Record 

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Michaela Estruth joins Josh Mann to unpack several major stories from the week. The lead discussion centers on David Morens, a top former advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who pleaded guilty to defrauding the United States by moving official COVID-related emails—including discussions of the lab-leak hypothesis—to a private Gmail account to evade FOIA requests. The correspondence also shows efforts to keep sensitive material off federal systems and even celebrate the concealment. Additional coverage includes new FBI data showing a 9.3 percent drop in violent crime from 2024 to 2025—the largest year-to-year decline in nine decades—with murders falling to levels not seen since the mid-1950s. The conversation then turns to stalled tariff negotiations with Canada, a New Jersey school district’s ban on adult volunteers with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, a Liberty University student’s scholarship case potentially headed to the Supreme Court, fabricated political polls that were treated as legitimate, and the ongoing Meta lawsuit alleging the company prioritized profits over the safety of young users.Chapters:

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:00:32 – Morens Guilty Plea

00:02:27 – Private Gmail Strategy

00:04:52 – Censorship and Celebration

00:06:15 – Violent Crime Decline

00:09:47 – Canada Tariff Threat

00:12:46 – FCA Religious Discrimination

00:17:24 – Scholarship Case to SCOTUS

00:20:16 – Fake Political Polls

00:26:01 – Meta Youth Harm Lawsuit

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Heartlander News reporter Stuart McMillian joins Dr. Josh Mann to recount his exclusive tour of the Idaho National Laboratory alongside NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. The focus is SR-1 Freedom, the first fission-powered spacecraft designed for nuclear electric propulsion and a path to Mars, with a hard launch target of December 2028. Isaacman stresses the urgency of the second space race as China prepares to land Chang’e 7 at the lunar South Pole, while the Department of Energy and NASA accelerate reactor development at record speed. 

McMillian describes walking through restricted prototype facilities, radiation-shielded labs, and vibration-test rigs that simulate rocket launch conditions. The conversation then turns to the Air Force’s decision to base F-15E Strike Eagles at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, preserving the historic 442nd Fighter Wing. 

Additional stories cover recent Democratic primary results, where moderate candidates defeated more progressive challengers in Missouri and Wisconsin, and a new survey showing nearly one in six Americans have already acted on AI medical advice without consulting a physician.

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:00:34 – Nuclear Power for Space

00:00:50 – Isaacman at Idaho Lab

00:01:08 – Winning the Space Race

00:01:40 – SR-1 Freedom Mission

00:02:10 – China’s Lunar Challenge

00:03:18 – DOE Rapid Deployment

00:03:58 – Building Reactor Hardware

00:05:29 – 2028 Mission Deadline

00:07:04 – Tour of Idaho Lab

00:08:26 – Prototypes and Restricted Areas

00:10:39 – Reactor Testing Rigs

00:12:13 – Nuclear Technology Revival

00:14:16 – AI and Energy Needs

00:15:49 – China as Space Rival

00:18:06 – F-15s to Whiteman

00:19:58 – Democratic Primary Results

00:23:35 – AI Medical Advice Survey

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Michaela Estruth discusses her interview with Senator Josh Hawley conducted the day after nationwide primary elections. Hawley describes the Democrat Party’s sharp leftward shift, the rise of woke socialist candidates who favor government control, gender ideology in schools, and chemical abortions, and contrasts Missouri’s rejection of a more radical progressive with Michigan’s nomination of a Democratic Socialists of America candidate for Senate.

The conversation turns to Hawley’s push to ban corporations from using AI and personal data to set individualized prices that charge customers differently for the same product or service. Additional topics include Hawley’s “trust but verify” stance on attorney-general nominee Todd Blanche, particularly enforcement against illegal mailing of abortion drugs into states with bans, and his efforts to keep Farm Service Agency offices open across rural Missouri, where agriculture remains the state’s top industry.

Adam Wittenberg joins to examine the broader surge of overtly socialist candidates, a former Democratic operative’s book explaining why she left the party, ongoing debates over men in women’s sports highlighted by Riley Gaines and a satirical all-trans WNBA proposal, an investigative report on last-minute Biden-administration changes that routed nearly $3 billion in green-energy funds to Wall Street-managed vehicles, and a disbarred immigration attorney’s alleged large-scale fraud scheme.

00:00:00 – Introduction
00:00:22 – Hawley on Democrat Shift
00:00:49 – Rise of Woke Socialists
00:01:40 – Primary Results Overview
00:03:46 – Michigan Versus Missouri
00:05:38 – AI Pricing Practices
00:06:30 – Ban on AI Price Setting
00:08:10 – Economic Debate on Pricing
00:11:29 – Todd Blanche Nomination
00:11:53 – Abortion Drug Enforcement
00:13:24 – Missouri Farm Offices
00:14:38 – Agriculture as Top Industry
00:16:35 – Democratic Socialists Surge
00:18:27 – Young Voters and Affordability
00:19:50 – Francesca Hong Controversy
00:20:46 – Nothing Left Book
00:22:19 – Democrats Abandon Heartland
00:23:05 – Riley Gaines and WNBA
00:24:32 – Trans Team Proposal
00:25:25 – Green Energy Giveaway
00:26:26 – Immigration Attorney Fraud 

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Michaela Estruth discusses her interview with Senator Josh Hawley following a contentious Senate hearing in which Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment. The conversation examines newly released personal journals covering 2019–2022 that appear to conflict with public statements on the origin of COVID-19, including early notes suggesting the Wuhan market was an amplifier rather than the source and limited consensus among experts on natural emergence.

Hawley argues that Fauci’s presidential pardon removes the basis for pleading the Fifth and that the repeated refusals constitute contempt of Congress; he has introduced legislation targeting the use of government resources to solicit personal cash awards during the pandemic. 

The discussion also covers ongoing disaster-relief needs in Missouri more than a year after the devastating St. Louis tornado and subsequent flooding, with Hawley seeking substantially larger federal funding. 

Additional stories include a Department of Education investigation into “trans Potato Head” dolls intended for children as young as four in Minnesota, and a report from Rio Grande Bible Ministries—an 80-year-old institute near the U.S.–Mexico border that trains Spanish-speaking pastors and is adapting to visa challenges by restoring English instruction and exploring satellite campuses in Latin America and South Dakota.

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:00:27 – Hawley Fauci Hearing

00:01:11 – Fauci Journals Released

00:02:20 – Wuhan Market Notes

00:03:42 – Fauci Pleads the Fifth

00:05:13 – Hawley’s Grilling of Fauci

00:06:13 – Immunity and the Fifth

00:07:19 – Legal Argument Explained

00:09:07 – Biden’s Pardon of Fauci

00:10:36 – Holding Fauci in Contempt

00:12:11 – Lessons from the Pandemic

00:13:27 – St. Louis Tornado Relief

00:14:34 – Funding Shortfall Details

00:15:57 – Minnesota Transgender Dolls

00:18:28 – Rio Grande Bible Ministries

00:19:50 – Institute’s 80-Year History

00:22:24 – Border Visa Challenges

00:24:52 – English Programs and Satellites

Follow Heartlander News on Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube.  You can also sign-up for our newsletter and follow our coverage at HeartlanderNews.com.

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