It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Alex Pareene, Contributing Editor at the New Republic and proprietor of the AP newsletter on Substack, to round up the week in news. Then, Sam and Emma are joined by comedian Andy Kindler, host of the Thought Spiral podcast! Alex, Sam, and Emma dive right into the Democrats being faced with their biggest fear (doing literally anything for the public) as they watch Nancy Pelosi absolutely rip a reporter a new one for asking about COVID when people are dying… but not the ones dying of COVID – simply dumping the pandemic to the side in favor of the Democrats’ “single kitchen table issue” tactic, where they don’t discuss anything but, in this case, Ukraine, and how they are once again turning to a very arbitrary scapegoating of Russia. Next, they dive into the absurdity of the Dems’ (supposedly) popularist tactics, yet are scared to death of taking on “culture war” issues that are supported by vast majorities of the American public, from reproductive freedom to education and queer rights, instead reading limericks from Bono in support of the Ukrainian people, rather than, say, accepting Ukrainian refugees. Alex then leads Sam and Emma into a discussion of this fear-of-culture war that Democrats cannot overcome, and how their inaction on these issues, if anything, reinforces their inaction on genuine policy issues, especially when both of them are having rampant material effects as the right garners more and more state majorities, before they wrap up the interview with a discussion on the Cuomo coalition taking on cancel culture, with a guiding hand of the law helping them along the way. Sam and Emma also cover the horrors of the Idaho abortion bill, the 11k civilian deaths (supported by the US) in the war in Yemen that the US refuses to acknowledge, and the role the Supreme Court might play in the upcoming midterm elections.

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma are joined by the great Andy Kindler, as he explores his proud time spent as a “Brief Boy,” and cover the beauty of Darlene Rudin, before they all get into the backlash to Dave Rubin (no relation) announcing that he and his husband are expecting a future baby, from friends and foes alike. Sam and Emma also cut up the pie with the ranking of US pizzas, and discuss the narrow scope of the things Democrats are actually fighting for, plus, your IMs!