Blockades, Breakdowns, and Backstage Passes

Erick Underwood for Governor

Trump’s Reflecting Pool renovation turning green almost immediately after a $14 million makeover, followed by the administration blaming Obama-era repairs. Trump calling Obama a “son of a bitch” while defending his own Iran deal, which remains unclear and politically messy. A new poll showing most Americans support replacing the Electoral College with a national popular vote. Ohio lawmakers failing to pass a bipartisan child marriage ban before summer recess. Elon Musk threatening legal action against Rep. Ro Khanna after Khanna connected DOGE’s USAID cuts to possible mass child deaths abroad. An interview with Colorado gubernatorial candidate Erik Underwood about his political identity, Approval Voting Party run, tech background, Bank of America fight, and ambitious policy agenda. A DEA fentanyl seizure mistake in New Mexico that left dangerous drugs unaccounted for. A look at the San Andreas Fault and new concerns about stress buildup in Southern California. House of the Dragon returning with Season 3 and the Battle of the Gullet. Xbox turning 25 and pushing deeper into movies and TV with projects tied to Gears of War, Sea of Thieves, Minecraft, Fallout, and more. LINKS https://instagram.com/itsnewstous [https://instagram.com/itsnewstous] https://tiktok.com/@itsnewstous [https://tiktok.com/@itsnewstous] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

NOFX

Eddie and Jason welcome El Hefe of NOFX and chat the latest current events. LINKS https://instagram.com/itsnewstous https://tiktok.com/@itsnewstous Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Global Panic, Local Weirdos

We start in politics, where Iran is threatening to shut down the Strait of Hormuz, talk about a weird GOP candidate, try to make sense of the world and fail. LINKS https://instagram.com/itsnewstous [https://instagram.com/itsnewstous] https://tiktok.com/@itsnewstous [https://tiktok.com/@itsnewstous] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

RIP Democracy: Midway to Midterms

RIP Democracy - A Crisis Caucus brings together It’s News to Us, Cool Nerd Weed Show, and Mood Killers for a two-hour live political comedy special asking the most comforting question possible: are we halfway to fixing democracy, or halfway through watching it fall down a flight of stairs? With the theme “Midway to the Midterms… Will hope be restored or lost and gone forever?”, the episode mixes political panel chaos, comedy games, guest interviews, survival-guide bits, parody ads, cannabis updates, and live listener call-ins. The show kicks off with an introduction to the hosts and the crisis-caucus premise, then immediately throws listeners into State of Pain, a gas price trivia game designed to test both political knowledge and emotional endurance at the pump. Hour one leans into economic dread and generational coping mechanisms with segments like How Emos Can Afford High Gas Prices, How Broke Millennials Can Survive Inflation, and a guest interview with Ben Lapidus. The hour closes with How Gen Z Can Survive the 2026 Midterms, a cannabis update with The Nerds, and the kind of break teases that make listeners wonder whether they should laugh, vote, or stockpile beans. Hour two expands the satire with Headline or Hallucination, a game built for the modern news cycle where reality and AI-generated nonsense are basically in a custody battle. The second hour also features congressional candidate Samantha Mota, giving the panel a chance to talk politics directly while keeping the overall tone sharp, funny, and just unstable enough to match the moment. Overall, the episode is a live, comedic midterm check-in: part political therapy session, part radio variety show, part emergency broadcast from a democracy that may or may not be buffering. LINKS https://instagram.com/itsnewstous [https://instagram.com/itsnewstous] https://tiktok.com/@itsnewstous [https://tiktok.com/@itsnewstous] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Napflix and Drill

The episode opens with Trump reportedly falling asleep during a White House maternal health event tied to the launch of Moms.gov, using it as a jumping-off point for jokes about stamina, age, and the hypocrisy of the “Sleepy Joe” era turning into the “Oval Office Nap” era. A major political thread is the possibility of instability around Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, with drone strikes, U.S. naval presence, and global energy fears framed as a geopolitical hostage situation where gas prices are the ransom. The midterm-election segment focuses on Trump’s “election integrity” effort, including poll watcher recruitment, DOJ lawsuits seeking voter data from states, the SAVE Act, and broader concerns about voter intimidation, surveillance, and federal overreach. The show also hits Trump-related infrastructure absurdity: a proposed billion-dollar security bill for a new White House ballroom and controversy around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s blue coating, ballooning costs, and no-bid contracting questions. A more serious immigration story centers on Kevin González, an 18-year-old U.S. citizen with terminal cancer who reunited with his parents one day before his death after they were released from immigration detention following court intervention. The emotional core: basic humanity should not require legal escalation. Public-health stories include cruise ship illness outbreaks, especially norovirus aboard the Coral Princess, with the episode leaning into the idea that cruises are floating cities where buffet tongs, shared air, and bad luck become an epidemiological group project. Business and tech stories include Netflix raising its standard ad-free plan to $19.99, a Canvas-related education data breach, Project44 launching AI “Autopilot” for logistics, Grand Games raising $70 million, and Algorithmiq raising €18 million to commercialize quantum algorithms. The running theme: everything costs more, leaks more data, or is being handed to AI before anyone knows whether that’s a good idea. Entertainment stories include Kevin Hart’s Netflix roast, the Academy banning AI-generated performances from acting Oscar eligibility, and an SNL UK sketch imagining future Trump and Nigel Farage — all feeding into the idea that satire is struggling because reality keeps submitting stronger punchlines. LINKS https://instagram.com/itsnewstous [https://instagram.com/itsnewstous] https://tiktok.com/@itsnewstous [https://tiktok.com/@itsnewstous] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.