American Fever Dream Betches

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Sami is joined by Sharon McMahon, the author of “The Small and the Mighty,” to share how history can be constructed and verified as accurately as possible.

Sharon stresses the importance of local journalism and how it has been the backbone of America’s microcultures.

How different generations navigate gathering information, disseminating it, and learning that the best way to be right is to be wrong first.


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15:55 TEMP CHECK: Vice President Harris spoke at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies’ annual legislative leadership summit and imparted some honest words to the group.
24:30 MAIN NEWS: Sami and V give a rundown of the MANY threats to the 2024 election, from AI and disinformation, to election denial, to voter suppression by Trump’s army of poll-watching volunteers. Plus, what the hell is an incidental election and what are the odds of one happening?
58:07 DOWN BALLOT ERA: Our villain of the week is Judge Scott McAfee, who is presiding over Trump’s Fulton County, Georgia election interference case and is running for reelection.
1:00:00 AMER-I-CAN’T: Senator Katie Britt of Alabama created the More Opportunities for Moms to Succeed Act, which proposes to establish an online government database listing agencies and pregnancy care providers, but excluding abortion-related services. It also collects your health and pregnancy information…what could go wrong?
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Topics:

Sami and V are joined by the hosts of Strict Scrutiny to talk about how the Supreme Court’s handling of important cases like Mifepristone and EMTALA raises concerns about standing and the potential impact on reproductive rights.

They predict the risks of the Supreme Court undermining federal supremacy over state law as constitutional principle and what the long term ripple effects are.

What can we do about it? Sustained public attention and pressure are crucial in influencing the court’s decisions and how democratic political officials should be pushed to take action.


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12:45 TEMP CHECK: V and Sami take the nation’s temperature after Drew Barrymore’s “Mamala Controversy” and how her interview with Vice President Harris became cringe-worthy and even inappropriate.
29:17 MAIN NEWS: Project 2025 outlines Trump’s policy plans, which aims to consolidate executive authority and implement conservative policies, potentially hinting to an authoritarian government.
50:53 DOWN BALLOT ERA: Our down ballot girlie of the week goes to Caroline Gleich. Caroline has climbed Mt. Everest and is now running for Senate in Utah to fill the seat Mitt Tomney once occupied.
53: 20 AMER-I-CAN’T: Noelia Voight, recently resigned Miss USA, brings attention to mental health concerns and the pressures faced by pageant contestants.
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Samantha Vinograd, senior national security counselor and assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat prevention at the DHS, joins Sami and V to talk about how the council is approaching Holocaust denialism and the lack of Holocaust education.

Lawmakers proposed the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act, which would codify the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism into federal anti-discrimination laws.

Samantha discusses antisemitism in the context of the recent campus protests.


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5:40 TEMP CHECK: V and Sami check the temperature on the Columbia University protest, clarifying the motivation behind the protests and discussing how they’ve expanded nationwide.
25:45 MAIN NEWS: Why does it seem like every headline is about a court case? They highlight the latest developments at SCOTUS, criminal cases, and more… while reflecting on America’s long standing reputation of being one of the most litigious countries in the world and how Americans use the legal system to solve (and cause!) all sorts of problems.
39:55 DOWN BALLOT VILLAIN: This week goes to Eric Hovde, who has released several ageist remarks on Fox Radio while running for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin against Tammy Baldwin.
45:30 AMER-I-CAN’T: Dollar Tree announced that it is closing 600 of its Family Dollar store locations in 2024. V reveals the top three reasons why a Dollar Store may be a detriment to your neighborhood.
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