Emma hosts journalist Sam Quinones, to discuss his recent book The Least of Us: True Tales of America and Hope in the Time of Fentanyl and Meth, taking on the wave of synthetic drugs moving across North America over the last decade and a half, how they seeped through, and why they are so dangerous. They begin by jumping off of Quinones work “Dreamland” which helped build a lot of the language around the opioid epidemic that we use today, as they reflect on the promulgation of opioids through the pharmaceutical industry pressuring doctors to begin prescribing narcotic painkillers, like Vicodin and Oxycontin, and how it contributed to a wave of opioids seeping into the black market. This brings them to the takeover of synthetics in the drug trafficking world, which offered a variety of new benefits in comparison to the plant-based drugs, like marijuana and poppies, including uniformity, no requirement for land or agricultural workers, and no seasonal-dependent growth. This opened up the role of kingpin to anyone who can get their hands on the chemicals, as Quinones describes through a couple of stories on the earliest independent fentanyl-traffickers coming in from China and Mexico, after its birth in the US, seeing an already misused drug fall into the hands of non-medical-professionals as they act the role of the mixer, combining drugs with drugs to capitalize on addictive capacities. Lastly, they cover the major changes that moving to synthetics has had on the actual effects of the drug usage, with meth, particularly, featuring an entirely new base, P2P, that, much like fentanyl’s massive potency, has produced much more severe drawbacks, including paranoia, before they briefly touch on what solutions are currently being presented by the US, and how that is, problematically, centered around incarceration. Emma also touches on the CBO scores coming back, to Manchin’s chagrin, and the upcoming Julius Jones case and the morbid contradiction of killing in the name of justice.

And in the Fun Half: Emma, Matt, and Brandon take on the GOP’s most batshit violent characters, addressing Gosar’s anime campaign video, and Boebert’s violent defecation on the House floor, alongside AOC’s killer speech on GOP nihilism to avoid accountability. They also touch on Havana Syndrome, ooh na-na, the Lakers new home at the biggest tribute to pyramid schemes since Giza, and the commuting of Julius Jones’ sentence, before also touching on whether Queen Elizabeth II will emerge early to signal six more weeks of monarchical rule, Matt Walsh talks kids, birds, and sex, like the weird guy he is, and Andy from NYC calls in about Joe Rogan’s politics and the value of his show. Phillip from StL also shines a light on Aaron Rodgers’ chiropractic upbringing, and child trafficking issues in the midwest, plus, your calls and IMs!