For the People, By the People

Episode 5: The Midterm Blues

In this episode, I talk about the results of the midterm election and the narratives coming into election day, and the narratives that surround election day a week later. I cover what went well for Democrats and what went poorly for Democrats as the country did not uniformly go one way or another, looking at cases such as Minnesota, Michigan, Colorado, and Pennsylvania where Democrats outperformed expectations and had impressively good nights considering this was a Democratic midterm and looking at cases where Democrats underperformed and did poorly such as Florida and New York. I also cover narratives surrounding both parties and discuss the failures of the moderate wing of the Democratic Party while the progressive wing had an overall good night. On the Republican side, I cover narratives of whether the party should descend further into fascism or moderate out more to appeal to the voters they lost during this round of elections. Finally, I discuss what lessons both parties should take away from the midterm and what the future holds for the dynamics at play when the 118th Congress convenes. For these conversations, I was joined by @eli_rocke (Instagram). Thanks to Eli for joining me in this episode!

Episode 4: Immigration Nation

In this Episode I will talk about the complexities of the US immigration system and how the system is set up to actively prevent people from becoming naturalized citizens and how difficult it is to enter into the US legally. I will also be talking about the complex relationship between labor and immigration, the exploitation and financial benefits that come along with it, and how perceptions of the asylum and refugee process changed. Of course, with these heavy topics, I wanted to leave on a high note so I offered what I think would be the first steps to reforming the immigration system. For these conversations, I will be joined by @the.only.queen01 [https://www.instagram.com/the.only.queen01/] (Instagram). Shout out to Violet for joining me in this episode!

Episode 3: Nuclear Holocaust?

In this episode, I will talk about the current state of affairs regarding Russia and Ukraine. Topics will range from what Russia is demanding from the United States and, more broadly, NATO, to what the consequences of the annexation of Ukraine could mean for foreign policy moving forward and the global status quo. I’ll also briefly touch on the idea of regime change. For these conversations, I will be joined by @yaboiaram [https://www.instagram.com/yaboiaram/] (Instagram). Many thanks to Aram for joining me in this episode! *DISCLAIMER: I do not believe in taking out foreign leaders, taking out foreign leaders is bad, don’t do it!* **This episode was recorded on February 6th, 2022. There will probably be an update sometime in the future**

Episode 2: White Queers...Why?

In this episode, I talk about the conversations surrounding Encanto and how white queers have used their whiteness to dominate the conversation and twisted the message into something it's not when the message is about general trauma that happens in Latino communities. I also briefly talk about Kyrsten Sinema continuing to work on her legacy as part of the reason why our American Democracy is dying. The last part of the episode is dedicated to my honest thoughts on AOC in general, as well as what I think her role is and what the Squad's role is in promoting the progressive agenda, and I also mentioned some great progressive candidates.

Episode 1: Bread and Circuses

In this episode I talked about Biden's infrastructure package, otherwise known as Build Back Better, getting into details as to what is in the bill and what the future will hold for BBB after Senator Manchin announced his opposition to the bill. I also talked about the "national divorce" scenario that was recently proposed by Marjorie Taylor Greene in which the country would divide itself by blue and red states and what that would look like in terms of the countries that would form and how life would differ for citizens in the two respective countries. For these discussions, I was joined by @jason_oh._. (Instagram). Many thanks to Jason for being my first guest!