The Big Stories for your week ahead:

• JD Vance takes on the NY Times and gets badgered (as usual)
• Money in Politics is now a good thing
• Is Trump going senile or just getting cranky?
• Polling Update: Still tied!
• A nation of homebodies

Our Friday round-up of the week's big stories:

• Biden and Harris take on "misinformation" in the aftermath of back-to-back hurricanes
• Happy Birthday, Reverend Al!
• Lesbian Navy runs aground
• Mika seeks professional help
• Ron doesn't take Kamala's phone calls

As FEMA fails and flails in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Ann throws down the gauntlet to MAGA country: "I don't want to hear about a stolen election or Democrats cheating if Republicans don't throw everything they have at getting supplies and electricity. Help them build their buildings. But also, as the election gets closer, make sure they have their ballots, make sure their ballots get delivered."

Also on the show:

• JD Vance is "slick"
• Is FEMA really out of money?
• Recycling and "tethered" bottle caps
• The Gender Gap is back!

Opening sound is Maggie Jarry, M. Div., U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, speaking on a 2023 FEMA Zoom call on "equitable disaster relief."

RFK Jr like you’ve never heard him before!

A lot on his father's old boss, Sen. Joe McCarthy — the subject of Ann's revisionist account (i.e., "true") in "Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism."  

Also, his views on foreign policy (he’s pretty great), immigration (better than any Democrat and half of all Republicans), and censorship and the media (fantastic!).  The vax stuff bores Ann, so not much of that.

Only one animal carcass question.

Now that a few days have passed, Ann re-assesses the Vice Presidential Debate.

Ann welcomes back Ryan Girdusky as they break down the 2024 Vice Presidential Debate between Sen. JD Vance (R - OH) and Gov. Tim Walz (D - MN). 

(One of them is a self-admitted knucklehead.)

Your five things to watch for during VP Debate Week:

• How did we get into this mess?
• Legal vs Illegal on Immigration (Just stop it!)
• Trump's NY appeal moves forward
• Amy Wax's punishment
• Car seats and pregnancy?

The Big Stories you may have missed this week:

• Kamala does MSNBC and even the NYT notices
• Haitian update
• NYC Mayor Eric Adams indicted
• DVT to rise?
• Missouri executes a guilty man

The five things you need to know this week:

• The truth about political violence in America
• Francis Collins fails at humility
• Can drinking prevent food poisoning?
• America is drugged to the hilt on stimulants
• Legal vs illegal doesn't matter

The big stories of the week you may have missed plus a preview of Ann's upcoming interview with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Have a drink.