American Fever Dream

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics: President Biden signed a bill that will force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to divest from its U.S. operations or face a nationwide ban. V updates us on the details of this bill and the consequences TikTok will face if they do not cooperate. Sami is joined by Jesse Washington, film director of Hip-Hop And The White House, a documentary that examines the relationship between the emergence of hip-hop, how it arose as a result of public policy, and the power of hip hop to make political statements and mobilize audiences. You can stream Hip-Hop And The White House on Hulu today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2:40 TEMP CHECK: Sami and V check the nation’s pulse after Taylor Swift’s double album release and the discourse that followed. 11:56 MAIN NEWS: This week, Maine joined The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). Under the proposed compact, each state would allocate all its electoral votes to whoever wins the national popular vote for president, regardless of how individual states voted in an election. 24:33 DOWN BALLOT GIRLY OF THE WEEK: Goes to the first South American-born immigrant to serve in Congress, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. Mucarsel-Powell is running for the Florida Senate against current senator Rick Scott who has been a long time fixture in Florida politics. 34:15 OUR DOWN BALLOT VILLAIN OF THE WEEK: Goes to Louis DeJoy and his attempt to privatize the USPS through the “Delivering for America” plan which is a roadmap to destroying rural, indigenous communities that are too small to have private shipping offices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TEMP CHECK: Sami and V discuss the 4B movement which renounces dating men, marriage, sex with men, and having children. It originated in South Korea in 2019 with 4,000 members, but now TikTok has caught wind and amassed over 60K videos with some form of #4B. MAIN NEWS: In the midst of his trial, Donald Trump drops a sneak peek of what we can expect from his desired second term, starting with a brilliant plan to devalue the US dollar on purpose. IN OUR DOWN BALLOT ERA: We are here to shout out the Vote Mama Lobby and a candidate submitted by a listener: Maxi Glamour, who is running to be the first non-binary committee member of the 3rd Ward of St. Louis, MO. AMERICAN’T: To lower its rat population, New York City lawmakers have proposed an ordinance that will provide free and unfettered access to contraception for the city’s rats. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re switching/SWISHing it up this week, with our mini-sode today and our main episode out on Thursday, because there is just so much rolling news right now. Today, Sami and V are joined by Kara Swisher, tech journalist, Pivot co-host, co-founder of Recode, and New York Times bestselling author of Burn Book. Her memoir chronicles her decades-long career covering the rise of Silicon Valley, what they’re like up close, how they’ve helped and how they harmed us.Topics: Congress is finally starting to move into action to regulate big tech companies, but will it be effective? A look into why these companies have become too rich and too powerful to regulate properly. Earlier regulation for apps like TikTok could help prevent total bans. Kara emphasizes that despite its popularity, TikTok must adhere to American regulations and values the same as any other broadcast network. The consequence of dominance in the industry by a few huge companies has led to the demise of traditional news outlets and the spread of misinformation. How will news businesses adapt their business models? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics: The king of subprime car loans, Don Hankey, stepped forward to offer Trump his $175 million bond — but will he even be allowed to pay it? State Attorney General Letitia James is questioning whether Hankey's insurance group, Knight Company, is qualified to issue bonds in New York and that's even if the funds are legitimate. Following the Supreme Court’s mention of the Comstock Act, Sami and V dive deep into 19th century moralist Anthony Comstock, uncovering his motivations for creating the 1873 Comstock Act, and how Republicans are leveraging the act to restrict abortion access. Along the way, we’ll also learn about V’s deep love for the Victorian Age. And, over in Michigan, Representative Elissa Slotkin holds a slender lead over the Trump-supported former Representative Mike Rogers in the state’s contested Senate race. Elissa's campaign has been promoting her “Opportunity Agenda,” which aims to achieve health equity, gun safety in schools, and more funding for child care centers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics: Republicans call President Biden anti-Catholic because he dared to acknowledge Trans Day of Visibility, which fell on the same day as Easter Sunday Family members of the late labor leader César Chavez tell RFK Jr. to stop using their dad’s likeness for clout. A major dive into Beyonce’s new album Cowboy Carter and its history lessons, plus a legendary (and definitely untold) story from V about Dolly Parton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics: Sami is joined by Emily Amick to provide an update on Kate Middleton and how the public reacted to the conclusion of the royal conspiracies. V interviews Julie F. Kay, Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Abortion Coalition of Telemedicine (ACT), on how the Supreme Court is attempting to limit abortion access. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics: Run For Something’s latest research revealed that 61% of young democrats say they are most likely to turn out to vote if there is a young progressive candidate running. NBC hires Ronna McDaniel as an on-air commentator and faces major backlash. Truth Social has made a surprise IPO on the NASDAQ and its biggest investor is the company founded by TikTok’s savior Jeff Yass, Susquehanna International Group. A deep dive into RFK Jr. and his independent campaign In Our Down Ballot Era: Democratic State Senator Eva Burch reveals in a speech on the Senate floor that she is planning to get an abortion due to her pregnancy being no longer viable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics: An overview of Emily Amick’s Substack piece: Kate Middleton & the Conspiratization of Modern Mass Communications Identifying how conspiracies become discredited to cover up truth. Is it malevolence or is it just messiness? Pre-order Democracy in Retrograde: How to Make Changes Big and Small in Our Country and in Our Lives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics: Discussing the rising issue of “Moral Narcissism”. A primer on what’s happening in Haiti Shouting out Democratic candidates that voted against the TikTok ban. The gap in our court system that allows hypothetical court cases to make it to the Supreme Court without consequence. Come back on Thursday for a minisode where V, Sami, and @emilyinyourphone chat about missing Kate Middleton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics: After predicting some possible options for TikTok saviors, Kellyanne Conway is beginning to lobby on behalf of TikTok in Congress. Trump posted a $91.6 Million dollar bond on Friday to cover the financial penalty that he owes Jean Carroll. Texas down ballot results for Greg Casar, Jasmine Crockett, and Jessica Cisneros. Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna has proposed bipartisan legislation in congress that would allow members of congress to vote remotely for six weeks after they give birth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics: Sami and V share their takes on Trump and Biden’s respective popularity following Super Tuesday. The TikTok ban is back on the legislative table and Congress is getting serious about heavy regulatory fines to ban it from app stores. Will TikTok be saved by a buyer? Sami throws out some potential candidates. You can watch the bills consideration and debate LIVE Thursday, March 7, 2024 2:00 P.M. at https://energycommerce.house.gov/. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics: Caitlin Clark is changing sports for a generation The Supremes fall in line to help Donald Trump win the election Unpacking Vice President Kamala Harris’s call for a ceasefire + reactions A Hunter Biden hearing without full frontal nudity An extra thicc and juicy downballot era segment in honor of Super Tuesday, featuring Brian Derrick of Oath, who breaks down why North Carolina really, really, *really* needs to elect a Democratic governor this November Learn more about Oath at Oath.Vote Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s mini-sode V chats with author and journalist, Taylor Lorenz. They detail Taylor’s interview with Chaya Raichik during which she revealed herself as the creator of LibsofTikTok. FULL INTERVIEW Taylor’s Book: Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet Topics: How Taylor came to discover LibsofTikTok creator, Chaya Raichik. The severity of Raichik’s content and the concern of copy cats. The timeliness of Taylor’s book Extremely Online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today’s episode includes an exclusive interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, where she reacts to the Alabama Supreme Court ruling on frozen embryos and the death of Nex Benedict. To jump to the interview, listen at 49:24. Other topics in this show include: Symptom management of late-stage capitalism: why is the internet hiding news from us and why do CEOs want us eating cereal for dinner? Why don’t we know exactly what happened to Nex Benedict? We guide you through the confusing coverage. For the first time *ever* in the United States, someone was convicted for a hate crime for murdering a transgender woman. The Kochs pull their money from Nikki Haley as she enters her delulu era Veepstakes is in full swing – here’s who we *don’t* think Trump will pick A Missouri law prevents pregnany women from divorcing their spouse – which is why MO Rep. Ashley Aune is our downballot girlie of the week V interviews Vice President Kamala Harris about wide-ranging threats to reproductive rights: from how anti-abortion legislation impacts members of the military to fears around IVF accessibility. V and the Vice President also offer words of support to the LGBTQ community following the death of Nex Benedict. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another week of nightmare fuel to unpack in today's episode of American Fever Dream, including: Alabama’s Supreme Court rules that frozen embryos should be considered people. Here are the implications for IVF. Where is Ivanka Trump lately? The hottest new wedding venue is decommissioned prisons What we know about the killing of Nex Benedict Why a California conservative is making decisions about Oklahoma school libraries Alexei Navalny’s “sudden death syndrome” Who’s in their downballot era this week? It’s New York State Senator Samra Brouk, whose legislation ensures more women have access to life-saving doula services Check out our latest promo codes here: https://betches.com/promos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the first episode of American Fever Dream, V. Spehar of Under The Desk News fame officially joins the Betches News family in our premiere episode of our signature news and politics podcast dedicated to keeping you responsibly informed, sufficiently amused, and ready to stay engaged for the long haul.This week’s topics include: What’s going on with politics on social media? The Super Bowl political intersections you didn’t see and Nancy Pelosi’s Vegas field trip The race to replace George Santos in Long Island and why we’re in our downballot era this year A shooting at Joel Osteen’s Texas megachurch raises questions about the prosperity gospel Would you let ChatGPT write your performance review? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Betches News (formerly The Betches Sup) is excited to announce the newest podcast from Betches Media: American Fever Dream! From under the desk to in your ears, V. Spehar joins Betches Media in a new podcast dedicated to curing the collective malaise brought on by our chaotic political environment. Every week, Spehar and co-host Amanda Duberman (news director, Betches) will tenderly guide you through the biggest moments in politics and pop culture with a healing dose of perspective and humor. Rather than spiral over the latest unprecedented event, the hosts dig for the 2024 political tea you *really* want to hear while offering all the information you need to be an empowered citizen, without the side of despair to keep you up at night. Tune in every Tuesday, starting February 13th, 2024 and subscribe now so you don't miss an episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices