Sam and Emma break down the biggest headlines of the last week, in Sam’s first news day back in studio! They begin by unpacking the fact that over half of Americans, per CDC estimates, have contracted COVID at least once now, discussing the intra-studio experiences with the virus and how vastly it can differ from person to person, before they dive into Biden’s pardon of Abraham Bolden, JFK’s Secret Service member and the first Black member to serve the President’s detail, looking at why he was arrested in the first place, and what a government that doesn’t hide CIA/FBI domestic intervention from the public might look like. Next, they jump to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as US and Russia expand their war aims amidst their imperialist expansions (though employing different tactics), and unpack the US’s role, particularly as devastation continues in Yemen and Afghanistan, before they watch Rand Paul go toe-to-toe with Tony Blinken on whether Russia kinda deserves to remake their Soviet empire, and highlight the importance of pushing for Ukrainian agency. Moving deeper into discussion on the Republican Party, Sam and Emma discuss the flip in impact for Trump endorsements, as JD Vance and others see their polling numbers jump following his appearance in support of them, and look at the ever trickling in NYT leaks of Kevin McCarthy’s (and other leadership’s) turn on Trump and Trump-supporting Congresspeople immediately following 1/6. They also dive into the other incompetent party in the US, looking at Biden’s continuously ambiguous relationship to student debt cancelation, and the Democrats’ inability to run on a single issue even as their competition pushes public discourse against abortion, LGBTQ folks, and CRT further and further to the right.

And in the Fun Half: Emma has Sam unpack his stance on Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, as they cover the ambiguous nature of the site’s politics and political engagement, the fear of what Musk’s “free speech” might actually mean, and watch Ben Shapiro and Mark Levin unpack their desire for Musk to fill up the Twitter ranks with garbage fascists. Devin Nunes discusses Trump’s LOVE for surprises (not to mention his feelings towards flabbergastery), CSPAN gets a call about all those minorities on TV, and Burt from Burnsville MN expands the discussion on social media solutions. Midi Doctors talks no-fly zones over Ukraine, Sam and Emma respond to the silly Aaron Maté discourse, and Jordan Peterson and Douglas Murray discuss how talking about slavery is more painful than the lasting effects of slavery. James from TX discusses how transphobic and anti-teacher discourse has trickled into teachers’ minds, causing fear and panic over not being able to discern the gender of tadpoles in an elementary school science project, plus, your calls and IMs!