After Party with Emily Jashinsky - Lesbian Bar MELTDOWN, Nolan Wells Report, Midterm Madness & Kara Swisher’s HILARIOUS CNN Breakup

Episode Date: September 24, 2026

Emily Jashinsky opens the show with an important announcement about the future of “After Party,” and then she dives into the news. Emily breaks down the viral “Boston Globe” story about a lesbian bar facing backlash for relaxing its mask mandate and what the controversy reveals about the lingering effects of identity politics. She examines new undercover video raising questions about James Talarico’s political evolution as he gains ground in the Texas Senate race, plus Michele Tafoya’s competitive Senate campaign in Minnesota and why Democratic efforts to attack her for criticizing the state may fail. Emily also digs into the grand jury report on the death of Mississippi teenager Nolan Wells and responds to Jasmine Crockett and Al Sharpton continuing to raise race in connection with the case. Finally, she reacts to Kara Swisher’s very public breakup with CNN and what it reveals about the declining importance of legacy cable news. ZBiotics: Go to https://zbiotics.com/AFTERPARTY and use AFTERPARTY at checkout for 15% off any first-time orders of ZBiotics probiotics. PreBorn: Dial #250 and say “BABY” or visit https://Preborn.com/EMILY  Cowboy Colostrum: Get 25% Off Cowboy Colostrum with code AFTERPARTY at https://www.cowboycolostrum.com/afterparty   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome back to After Party, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us here on this Wednesday night. By the way, just while we're here, make sure that you subscribe. This is our last night live at this hour, because what we're hoping to do in the future is, you know, we've got this big midterm cycle coming out. We're going to talk about it on the show today. But we're hoping to be on your feeds earlier throughout the day. It's like an after party, but not quite as late of an after party, because we all know journalists pack up,

done for the day, 5 p.m. they're already at the bar at 4 p.m. The last hour is work at the bar, of course. So we're hoping to just be all over the feed more frequently, period. It'll probably be earlier the day, probably some stuff that's still a little later too. But we're really, really looking forward to that because there's just so much news. And got to shout out everybody who's been with us here. We're so excited about what's coming for after party in the next couple of weeks.

It's even going to look a little different, which I'm also really, really excited about. kind of elegant, elegant, elevated. I just combined two new words. That is the kind of coverage you get here on after party, allegated. I made that up, and it happened here. So you're welcome. On that note, subscribe to learn new words that have yet to be invented. If you don't subscribe, you may never hear the words I have yet to invent. So subscribe on YouTube. It helps us a bunch. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And we appreciate it. We appreciate everybody so much. As always, you can email me at Emily at devilmaicaremedia.com. And that's where I go. answer all your questions on the Friday episode of our shows. That is on the podcast feed only.

If you haven't gotten it yet, it occurs to me some people just watch us on YouTube. I'm telling you to get the full experience. You really do have to watch us or listen to us, I should say, on the podcast format because those Friday episodes, we go really deep on different topics. You might be wondering about. So thanks everybody for emailing me there. Big show, big show. We are going to do some midterm election coverage, some fascinating polling coming out of Texas. And also, get this, Minnesota. Minnesota. Texas looks like it might go blue, Minnesota, maybe red? I don't know, we'll see.

We're going to break down some of the new numbers. I'm going to break down the updates in the Nolan Wells case. I read the entire grand jury report that was posted publicly, and I want to use that as an opportunity to revisit how irresponsible some people have been in their coverage and analysis of this trial. And finally, Kara Swisher is threatening CNN with a good time and saying, because of the merger, she's out. You got to see this clip.

Her co-host actually tries to say, they're not going to miss you. Scott Galloway tries to say, Kara, they're not going to miss you. And she's like, no, they're trying to keep me. Sure they are, Kara. Maybe they're just telling you that. I don't know. I don't know. By the way, I just finished speaking on a panel here at Colby College. So I'm in Maine. I have to say, I'm in a pretty liberal part of Maine.

Today I've only seen two Troy Jackson signs. I drove today from Worcester Mass all the way up here to Waterville, about four hour drive. So interesting time to be in Maine, for sure. Shout out to Colby. You had a great conversation with some great students. I've just talked for like two hours straight. So I'm in rare form.

I'm ready to go. Everything is on the tip of my tongue. So let's get into it because I want to first start with the biggest story in the entire global media today, which comes to us courtesy of the Boston Globe. The Boston Globe is celebrating a remarkable piece of journalism. that has, according to a staff email sent out, we'll get to that in just one moment,

become apparently their most red piece of journalism? I mean, this is incredible. They profiled a bar called Last Ditch in Western Mass. I don't know, it was so beautiful. It was so beautiful. You may have already seen this story. You may have already come across your feed. The headline here is,

A Western Masked Lesbian bar required K-N-95 masks. When it changed the rules, all hell broke loose. And all hell did indeed break loose. That is not an overstatement. I'm going to read to you key excerpts from the story, and bear with me because they're hefty. Most of the story is indeed key excerpts worth reading to you. Because if you have not yet read this story,

it is a Portlandia sketch that people would say is too unrealistic. But if you were one of the Portlandia writers, you would know, indeed, it's not too unrealistic because there is a strain, a strain, of, I hesitate to say leftists, because a lot of leftists that I know would disavow this, laugh at it.

But it's sort of a cultural leftist where you substitute an identity. for class and then talk the same way Marxists do about class, but you do it by substituting an identity into the class category. And so we begin. The August 31st Instagram post from Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue, a lesbian bar in Greenfield was upbeat, teasing a new DJ lineup and a volunteer meetup,

but partway down the rainbow-hued post-labeled updates was a sentence that would splinter the queer community in the small Pioneer Valley City and beyond. It is with love we inform our immunocompromise disabled divas. We will be opening Saturday nights as mask optional, wrote last ditch. Previously patrons were required to wear a well-fitted KN95 mask or better at all times, or better, in quotes.

The new policy was not received with love. Quote, just say you're being complicit in a mass disabling event and get it over with, wrote one commenter. Quote, people like you killed disabled people in the name of your own leisure and convenience, posted another. and it goes on and on with posts like that. One person hoped the venue got firebombed. The Boston Globe reports from the virtual scene,

quote, the thread and grew to 442 comments, some supportive but many furious. The people running the bar were accused of being ableist, eugenicist even, for relaxing their signature policy in the face of what commenters consider an ongoing pandemic. And then in parentheses, the Boston Globe puts, they do a little parenthetical fact check. It's passive aggressive, it's cheeky.

They say Greenfield hasn't reported any COVID cases in more than two months. Two days later, Last Ditch posted an apology. They said, we are sorry for our passive and dismissive tone of our change to the norms and schedule impacting the most intersectional of us. We understand everyone faces different intersections and we are always working to consider all needs fully. Now, that didn't go well. Instead of diffusing the situation, the Boston Globe reports, the apology seemed to make things. worse, the bar had aired, it posted an Instagram card without providing alt text for the visually impaired. This set off a fresh round of accusations of ableism, quote, this is not an accessible

post, wrote one user, quote, it indicates the lack of care or interest in disability intersectionality. I have a hard time even laughing at that because what I see in a post like that saying it indicates the lack of care or interest in disability intersectionality, I see someone who's probably deeply sad because they have been conditioned to see their purpose and their value in their identity, to cultivate purpose from disability intersectionality. And some people actually gravitate towards new identities that seem totally fake to an outsider. Right, like, gosh, I have to go back into the weeds of this post.

But, you know, there are all kinds of varied and sundry identities that people come up with very niche and specific. And to me, that always looks like somebody who is searching for a purpose, finding a reason to be purposeful, right? Because when you have an identity based on, in many cases, an immutable characteristic, a disability,

we have created a culture where that can be a form of activism. And I know this story is hilarious, and I should be laughing, and I'll continue to laugh. But I just see so many sad people in it, that even as I was reading it here now, I had a hard time laughing. Don't get me wrong. It's a hilarious story.

I'm going to continue laughing at it. But sometimes it just reminds me of how sad a lot of these people who the entire culture had to accommodate, at least it felt that way, if you were getting these posts on, you know, your business in 2020,

or even before that, as woke one, now that we have to call it, that was building. I mean, this could actually control local news cycles, right? Like most of these places felt the need to accommodate, maybe not quite as ridiculous as COVID masks in KN95 COVID masks in 2026, but they did feel the need to accommodate every complaint

based on a disrespected or discriminated against identity, whether it was intentional or real, because the media would eat it up. And not in this way, by the way. this is remarkably dismissive because it's a Portlandia sketch basically. But it was like we were in a moment of such hysteria as a woke one was building that, you know, businesses were ground to a halt. PTAs were ground to a halt because there was immense pressure. We all had to kind of pretend, some of us didn't, but a lot of people in communities and such felt the need to pretend.

that this was serious because there was a stigma associated with inadvertently stepping into one of these controversies. And so it's a little hard to laugh in 2026 because I feel like we did. The reason that these guys are so powerful right now, apologies for gendering them, but it was unintentional. And that's exactly what I mean. It used to be a microaggression to say, you guys. They taught people not to refer to a group of people as you guys. is you were gendering and microaggressing, right? And so people who transgressed these new and intense boundaries

that turned into a kind of progressive or bigot binary. You were either fully progressive or even if you were a leftist who wasn't up to date on the most progressive language, then you necessarily got lumped in with bigots. Not somebody who disagreed, not somebody who was behind the times, but genuinely somebody who was enabling bigotry. or violence, violent speech, right?

Remember when the New York Times published the Tom Cotton op-ed, send in the troops? New York Times gave it that headline. It called for the invocation of the Insurrection Act to quell, quote, violent riots, not peaceful protests, violent riots. New York Times staffers posted in unison that the story put black New York Times

staffers in danger. This was one of the most powerful institutions in the world that was for a couple of days ground to a halt. They retracted the op-ed. because they had to pretend that was serious. I mean, they really sacrificed their journalistic integrity. There are people who worked at the New York Times at that time who would tell you that was a horrible decision.

What were we doing? But they did it because we all had to pretend that this was serious. So back to quote quaint, crunchy Greenfield. The Boston Globe reports, it isn't a bad place for a COVID cautious lesbian bar in 2026, all things considered. Rainbow flags, deck, store windows downtown.

On a recent weekend, a community theater was advertising a workshop for mask performers down the street from a bookstore with medical masks required sign in the window. Men and ponietails in N95s were ordering hibiscus tea from the coffee shop off the main square. But this is what I mean about the long COVID disability narrative. And listen, I'm sure they're actually, I'm not a medical expert. I know people often confuse me with one because I am so very fluent and so competent in medical ways. I give so much great medical advice. Please don't confuse me with the doctor. I know it's hard.

But do I think there's evidence of long COVID? Yes. But what you see is people turning long COVID into another form of an identity. And because it's a political identity, you can find fulfillment in that. I think it's a really sad way to find fulfillment. People find community in the long COVID community. But they really find grievances that are satisfying to err out because there's something virtuous.

And we're looking for ways as human beings to feel fulfilled and to signal virtue when well placed, right? So it's not performative, but to actually do virtue, not for the sake of signaling or performance, but to actually do virtuous things is fulfilling to the human soul. Even when it's hard, even when it's not pleasurable, there's something fulfilling about it to the human soul. And that's what we're seeing here. It's sad. The Boston Globe reports that the last ditch was the project, of quote three housemates in their mid-20s who opened it together.

By the way, they opened it last year, hoping to fill the void left by two local queer bars that had shuttered and what a void it was. One of the trio, Asa Rosario, a drag performer who uses it, its pronouns, envisioned a venue where it and its friends could perform. The three were intentional about the kind of values they wanted to bring to the divy basement bar,

which they decorated with discoveries from Facebook Marketplace and pieces from local artists. No one would be turned away from the space for the lack of funds. Poor and unhoused people aren't welcome in the space. The police were not. I mean, only one of the founders remained by the time this meeting happened. The business was in trouble, so they decided maybe they could do something about it by lifting the mask band-date in 2026. Lifting the mask mandate in 2026.

And they had literal struggle sessions over Zoom where people are crying about the controversy post-mask mandate lifting. people were called racist or their behavior was called racist they have a three-and-a-half-hour meeting about all of this on Zoom which by the way started with a calming breathing exercise if I'm remembering correctly and the Globe report Saturday September 12th is the second weekly mask optional night at last ditch down a set of stairs in a small concrete courtyard a few people mill outside smoking another handful linger inside near the bar under string lights the dance floor a wide checkered expanse with a stripper pole at the center

is empty. So they created a bar for a niche. And I think this just proves the point that you are either part of that niche or you are a bigot, right, in the mindset of those in the niche, which is alienating and isolating and emiserating, frankly.

And it's based on falsehoods. It's a niche of lies. But because it's a niche based on this binary of progressivism or bigotry against the differently able, against immunocompromised divas, which is a very, very specific form of bigotry that I hadn't been familiar with. I was not familiar with. I thought I was familiar with most of them, but I'm newly familiar with this one to the Boston Globe story. But man, it's a house of cards.

It's an ideology in a world view built on a house of cards, unless you continue to convince yourself of the lies over and over again. And if you don't, if you think perhaps, perhaps allowing people to go maskless is not allowing for genocide, enabling a genocide, or eugenicism, or racist. If you question that, you find yourself necessarily on the other side. And I think it's really sad for everyone involved. It is an incredibly funny story. The memes have been amazing, top-notch.

Let's put this up on the screen. Max Tanny posted that semaphore he got his hands on. an email a note that was sent to boston globesat today he reports the lesbian bar story as it shall henceforth be known the lbs generated 1 000 subscriptions to the paper yesterday the globes managing editor said it was by far our best performing story of the year and appears to be on pace to shatter all sorts of globe records taylor lorenz an advocate for the disabled and immunocompromised divas quote to he did max and said woke has gone too far outrage bait is very profitable this type of content sustains half the internet look forward to future coverage of how LGBT people with

neo pronouns are pitiful losers maybe they can get more ted cruz artis this is how you allow the sickness at the center of last ditch to metastasize by saying it's out of bounds to laugh at or report on is it pornographically anti-woke not really it's actually pretty kind to people involved the memes went everywhere, and I'm sure the Boston Globe didn't expect that, but their reporting is entirely defensible. It's amused by what is clearly an amusing worldview, but it is amused, and if that counts as outrage bait, then you're going to have to rule out a lot of critical reporting of quote-unquote woke one, which was objectable to most Americans, and not because they're bigots.

We have covered here. There's implicit bias research that has been done over many decades. You can read about it on the Harvard websites, MIT websites. These are reputable studies. And they have found that over time, implicit bias has shrunk to a very, very small level

among Americans. It's like one of our most remarkable achievements. I talk about it here all of the time. And so, yes, people who carry on as though we are living in a hellhole of bigotry against disabled divas and, you know, full of, that is full of racism, do deserve to be looked at with a skeptical lens and an amused lens because they're saying things like lifting a mask mandate in the year of our Lord 2026 is eugenics.

Sorry, Taylor Lorenz. There does need to be, because there was, the whole reason we got into this is that there wasn't critical coverage of it as it was happening. As it was happening, people were scared to criticize it in the media. The media was scared to report on it. They were, in fact, doing reporting on the people who were questioning it. They were doing critical, skeptical, and sometimes wildly over-the-top reporting on people who were questioning this as it metastasized. So actually, the problem is not outrage bait, woke outrage bait.

The problem is a long lack of quote, unquote, woke outrage bait, what Taylor Lawrence describes it's outrage bait, but what is actually defensible, amused, bemused Boston Globe reporting. But I would also say, like, fairly thorough Boston Globe reporting. And yes, it's a little bar. And the whole internet is dunking on this little Greenfield, Massachusetts bar. I've spent 20 minutes talking about it now, which I think is worthy of some type of commendation. I can actually probably spend another 20 minutes on it because it's an interesting little case study.

But that's what the Boston Globe was reporting. I was on this bigger story that this is a little town that has had reported. reported what zero cases of COVID in the last two months. And it's so ridiculous that the small business is foundering. And even the idea of lifting a mass mandate enraged the local community. It's, you know, a Western mass bar. It's the Boston Globe. It wasn't the New York Times doing this to like a little bar in, I don't know,

rural California. It's basically local press. It happened to go so viral through no faults of the Boston Globes, which congratulations to them. I'm sure this will not be in consideration for a Pulitzer Prize, but I would recommend they submit it because at a certain point, you just got to hand it to them. All right, I promise some updates on the midterm election,

so I'll stop rambling about this insane story for now. But on the other side of this quick break, we're going to be talking about new numbers in the James Tolariko election and the Michelle Tofoil election. Stick around. But first, I talk about this all the time, living in a big city and being a journalist, I have a very hard job.

someone has to go to all of these open bars and all of these free dinners. It just basically the job means I go out of free drinks. And, you know, it's like birthday parties, fancy dinners, rinse and repeat, all of that stuff. But it also means you've got real responsibilities. Like, you have to wake up in the morning and cover the news because the news starts really early too. And I guess I'm a real adult, if I can say that. So I have to be pretty intentional about how I do these things, as you know. And Zbiotics, pre-alcohol fits right into the mindset.

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No questions asked. So head to zbiotics.com slash afterparty code after party for 15% off your first order. Zbiotics is a partner of mine. All right. let's talk about the midterm elections. We have a new poll out that found James Talleyco hitting a fascinating benchmark in that Texas Senate election. The man is polling at 50% right now, according to an NPR Marist poll, a new NPR Marist poll. We put the first element up on the screen. He's at 50% to Ken Paxton's 44%. Okay, I've mentioned this here many times.

Beto O'Rourke in the 2018 race against incumbent Senator Ted Cruz never led once in the Real Clear Politics average and he ended up about a couple points under Cruz. That was a very, very close election. Closer than it should have been for Ted Cruz. It was a tough environment, no question about it. For Republicans, it was a tough environment. It was a blue wave year.

But still, it was two points in a red state like Texas that Ted Cruz won by. Now, Talarico has not been down. It's the reverse. So where Cruz had never been losing in any of the polls, RCP averaged over the last couple of months. So now, Tala Rico has never been down in any of those polls. Cruz had never been down in any of those polls. But now it's the Democrat running in Texas who had never been down in any of those polls.

He hit the 50% mark in this Marist NPR poll. And another thing I just want to pull up here so that I can look for it, so that I can look at it. That is very interesting with the trend lines in this case. It's that actually, Tala Rico's margin in the RCP average right now is at 2.8%. This time, let's see, this time last month, it was at about 1.7. So it's gone up. His lead in the RCP average has gone up over the course of the last month. we are about I think 41 days away from the midterm elections and you know it was kind of a punchline

when James Talleyco defeated Jasmine Crockett for the Democratic nomination in this race that James quote God as non-binary Tala Rico would be able to win a Senate seat in a red state like Texas even though Ken Paxton was widely considered and I think correctly considered to be such a flawed candidate because of all of his personal background. And he's not your textbook baby kissing politician. Trump's out there calling him dumb and ugly. So it tells me what you need to know. And he's never been up in Texas, which again is the opposite of Ted Cruz in 2018. And Cruz won by about two points. Two points. Meanwhile, if Ken Paxton, manages to lose this race to James Tauroro.

Again, it is a tough environment for Republican candidates because Trump is an unpopular president. Gas prices are high. People blame Trump for that in the middle of the Iran war. Hopefully, not in the middle, hopefully towards the end. But people are, there's a hot war happening in Iran. And gas prices are crazy, diesel prices are crazy. People are starting to fuel it all over the economy.

It's true unemployment remains relatively low. But boy, it feels like it's eating up. your budget. Those food prices feel like they're eating up your budget. Gas prices feel like they're eating up your budget. So not a great environment for Ken Paxson, who's already not a great candidate. Now, don't get me wrong, John Cornyn, not a great candidate either, not a great senator either. And you understand why Texas Republicans were arguably more concerned with tossing Cornyn out of office than maintaining this Senate seat, to be honest, because Cornyn was such an obnoxious figure that they felt gave them the middle finger over and over again throughout his career.

So I actually think that's entirely understandable. He was seen as like particularly noxious as far as rhinos go. But if Paxton can't pull this off, you have James, God is non-binary, Tala Rico, running or holding one of the junior Senate seat from Texas. So the Daily Wire's gotten its hands on undercover video clips from this woman Babs Miller, who is a minister at Talleyico's church that he's been with a long time. It's a PCUSA church. So if you're queued into kind of these internecine Protestant conflicts,

it's no surprise at all that Tala Rico, who has now tried to walk back, all the different things he said during the quote unquote woke one period about sex and gender and race and meat he's basically walked back every single one of those points and has owned it and said things like I obviously got that wrong that's one way to handle it but meanwhile someone's going undercover

talking to Babs Miller a minister at Tala Rico's church which I have to admit I kind of have mixed feelings about I think it's kind of weird to go undercover at a church, but maybe that's just me being overly cautious. Nevertheless, Daily Wire reports Reverend Babbs Miller, minister to the parish at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church,

was caught making stunning admissions about Talariko's political makeover as he seeks to win over conservative-minded Texas moderates. The newfound shift includes striking new positions, including support for a national band on gender transition surgeries for minors and opposition to transgender athletes competing in girl sports when he believes it threatens safety or fairness. we have covered that here. Daily Wire says when an undercover journalist told Miller that Republicans were attacking

Talleyko over his quote unquote God is non-binary comment, she responded, duh, agreeing with the theological assertion before shedding light on his internal political strategy. Quote, he's getting some advice that I don't think he should be following, Miller said. So what you're going to hear on this video is a woman who has indicated Tala RICO is intentionally positioning himself as much more moderate on these cultural questions than he actually is. And then I'm going to follow it up with a clip from the reverend at this church, who in 2023 gave a sermon on Easter, an Easter sermon, questioning the truth of the resurrection. What a thing to do on Easter.

And the purpose of all of this is, A, I think it's fairly clear that Tallerico didn't go from being a person who believed that it was necessary to gradually eliminate meat for the sake of humanity. It wasn't just him, you know, vegan virtue signaling. This was a bigger policy point that he was making and saying that his campaign had gone vegan several years ago. He didn't go from that from saying God is not binary, from, you know, leaning as hard as he possibly could into the trans kids issues during the woke one period. He didn't go overnight from that to, whoops, I got it wrong. And now we have evidence in the form of a minister at his church that he's been a part of. He's been very active in for a long time.

knows him saying he's getting bad advice and you know he probably doesn't agree with any of this let's take a look here at babes miller from people are attacking tallorea for saying that god is non-binary what he is yeah he went on fox news and like walked that back did you did you see that Yeah, he's giving some advice that I don't think he should be following. Yeah, because that's why, frankly, I want something that attracted me to this church was like. And I can guarantee you that once he gets elected, he'll change his tune. Yeah, back to where he goes.

Okay, but he has to kind of play this game. Yes, that's what his campaign has convinced him of, is that the Democratic Party is backing on their stances on trans and all of this and so his staff is encouraging him to kind of do the same thing just for the next 50 weeks whatever days or whatever days I guess I think it's bad advice personally but if it helps him win okay okay so that's that's somebody who knows James Talley well who appears to be speaking with inside knowledge. I don't know if she has any inside knowledge particularly. I can't confirm that, but I would be surprised if people who are close to him at this church, I mean, he's a seminarian, so obviously he takes

his faith seriously insofar as somebody who doesn't apparently believe in the literal resurrection, or at least goes to a church where the reverend doesn't believe in the literal resurrection, so much so that he would preach it on Easter, so much so that faith can be a central part of their lives. It's different, of course, if you are somebody who does believe in the literal resurrection. I mean, to explain why in just one moment, but I guarantee you he'll change his tune. That is from somebody who's known James Talleyko, who works at his church, and another one of these clips she talks about his mom. Clearly, she's very familiar with James Talleyco. So you can just add that to your data points about how serious James Tullerico

is in terms of whether he would vote for things like the Equality Act, should he get into the Senate? I imagine if you get into the Senate as James Tullerico in a real, really tough election cycle for Republicans, you are probably thinking maybe I'll only have one term in the Senate. Maybe, maybe. I don't know. It's six years of a long time. But that's probably an interesting glimpse into how Talleyco will, not that we really need Babs Miller to tell us this, but I think it is a data point as to how serious James Tallerico actually is about all this. Now, I do want to say the politics in a tough economy of hammering Tala RICO over and over. over again for some of these cultural positions.

I think it's way different than if gas was $2 a gallon or $3 a gallon. Genuinely, I mean that. I think it would be a much more effective attack on Tala Rico in a different economy. And so I think Republicans need to be smart about it because, yes, these issues matter to voters. They do matter to voters. Right now, I'm sure what matters most to most voters. most independent swing voters is what they're paying at the pump and is their bottom line. It's their bank accounts.

It's their ability to put bread on the table for their kids and their families, all of that. So I think you kind of have to tie this wackiness, this cultural wackiness into a broader economic message. It's not an easy thing to do. But I don't think Republicans can just expect to say James Tolerico believes God is non-binary and now he's flip-flopping and this. you can tie it into an authenticity problem, which then should make people question if he actually cares about them and actually will do things to make their lives easier when he's in office.

That you can tie it into. But I do think Republicans, just on the politics of this, have to be careful when the economy is where it is and we're again in a kinetic war. Let's roll Reverend Jim Rigby. This is a selection from his Easter sermon in 2023. Easter sermon in 2023 on whether Jesus of Nazareth died and rose again from the dead. It's very possible that Jesus rose from the dead. It's also possible the body was stolen, right? I mean, that's possible. It's possible the disciples stole it to keep the Romans from getting a hold of it.

It's possible the Romans took it because they were afraid of a resurrection on the third day. the question I want to ask you is do you want to live your life based on a maybe? Maybe Jesus rose from the dead, but maybe not. Maybe the person I'm sitting next to is as close as I need to get. You don't have to die before you experience the resurrection. If there is an eternity, it's already started. So to live fully in this present moment is as close to heaven as you need to get. Elon taking that giant dooby rip on Rogan.

Listening to Reverend Jim there. If you wonder why there's such a big difference between churches that have reverence that speak like Jim Rigby does about whether the resurrection is a symbol or a literal historic event, why there seem to be cultural and political differences between people who attend a church where the pastor says that it could be,

or the reverend says, the minister says it could be symbolic versus places that believe that it is a historical fact that Jesus of Nazareth died, was crucified on a cross, and rose again. It is because if you believe that the Lord of the universe came down to Earth and was crucified on a cross and then rose again from the dead, the world has never seen anything like that. You believe that is a miracle that defies what we as humans understand about the universe, about the laws of physics, about the world.

And if you believe in that, then you don't get to change the Bible. The Bible changes you, paraphrasing a very wise pastor. If you believe that Jesus is a real historic figure who died and rose from the dead, and I would encourage anybody to check out Lee Strobel's book, Case for Christ, if they're curious about that. There's all kinds of other scholarship,

but Lee's book is a really good place to start. If you believe in that, you realize you don't get to change the word of God. It gets to change you. You don't get to change it just because there's a new fashion. Because it is 2026 and people are saying, hmm, it seems like it's not compassionate to prevent boys from playing in girl sports. you don't get to say, oh, these male-female distinctions aren't really meaningful

because the Word of God tells us they are meaningful. Now, not meaningful in the sense of erasing or blurring anybody's dignity. Paul writes, there is no male or female nor Jew or Greek who we all equal under Christ Jesus. Meaningful in the sense that men are different from women. And so if you believe that scripture is, the Holy Word of God, you don't get to change it because it came from Jesus and his disciples. And those disciples saw Jesus be crucified and rise again.

He appeared to Paul. So if you believe that is literally true. You understand you don't get to change it. And if you believe it's a symbol, of course you get to change it. right? Because that symbol shifts, it's relative, right? A symbol is relative to the morals of the time. Whereas this is unchanging. So this glimpse at Talleyco via this church that he's gone to a very, very long time, where he considers people like Reverend Jim here, a mentor, again, Tala RICO is a seminarian, should tell you that you don't need me to tell you this, but it's a,

very postmodern worldview and that's what texas will be getting in the senate uh and god bless texas voters who have to choose between james delirico and ken paxton this fall but i think that's probably why the polling despite all of this i mean these videos are coming out with like 40 days until the election uh even as i was watching it i was like my instinct as a christian is that it's very wrong to lie about your beliefs infiltrate a circle and privately we're record people, so I do just want to register that. What these videos reveal or what they emphasize is that

Tala Rico is the postmodern cultural progressive he appeared to be before he decided to run for the Senate race and that's the decision Texas voters have to make when they're choosing between Ken Paxton

who has all of his own problems and baggage in James Tala RICO and it's worth emphasizing. Now let's move over to a major race that's barely getting any attention in Minnesota, despite massive, massively fascinating new polls. Michelle Tofoya, who is on this show not very long ago, is running for Senate. As you know, as a Republican in Minnesota, she's running against Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, who was Tim Walz's lieutenant governor. We should emphasize. Now, in a new poll, this is KSTP and Survey USA.

this race is a dead heat it is a tie 42 to 42 in the real clear politics average peggy flanagan is up only 1.8 1.8 over michelle to foya and let me just pull up the numbers here on how big the margin was for comela harris in minnesota back in 2024 so that we all have it in front of us so harris won by 4.24. So she got 51% of the vote. It looks like Trump got 46.9% of the vote. That's actually really competitive for a Republican in Minnesota. And it speaks at the time to what was happening in 2024 with rural voters, working class voters in the broader realignment picture. No question about that. And no question that those are some of the same demographics that Trump is having problems with right now. But to FOIA has never really been like hardcore MAGA.

has definitely been a Republican in recent years, or very friendly to Republicans in recent years, but never really hardcore MAGA. She is now running one of the most surprisingly tight races where it's reversed, right, where you see a lot of these races with Taurico in a red state, right? Or shockingly close polling out of Florida. You see North Carolina, Georgia,

looking really good for Democrats. and here you have Michelle Tofoya in a blue state, like a solid blue state. That presidential election was surprisingly close, I think, for Trump-related realignment reasons. But Michelle Tofoya is tied in a dead heat, basically, according to the latest polling on this. And so Democrats, I think, are starting to get nervous. Now, remember, Angie Craig, who was running in that primary against Peggy Flanagan, used the massive fraud investigations in the state. even just investigations, but the massive fraud scandal, because the investigations led to convictions

that unfolded under Tim Walls and Peggy Flanagan's nose. Even Angie Craig, as a Democrat, was using that to attack Peggy Flanagan. So Democrats in Minnesota, I think, are clearly starting to panic. And when you panic, listen, it's, of course, part of politics that everything you say if it can be contorted and stripped of its context, it's going to be. That will happen. That's just a part of the political ecosystem. Most of us hate it, but this latest one is especially desperate on Michelle Tofoya, which is that apparently she is just deeply embarrassed of Minnesota.

And what the Democrats are trying to tie this into is say, oh, she was living part-time in Florida. she doesn't actually like Minnesota. Now, I will say, over at K-File, Andrew Kaczynski at CNN, did catch Michelle Tofoya in a, I guess you could call it a lie. So he reports in a local radio interview earlier this month, Michelle Tofoil, the Republican State Senate, a Republican Senate nominee in Minnesota and former sports broadcaster was asked about her past criticism of the state and whether she was embarrassed by Minnesota. If I were embarrassed to be from Minnesota, would I be from Minnesota? running for the United States Senate to represent Minnesota, Tafoya asked before adding, I have never said that. K-File says, but three years ago in a sense to lead a tweet uncovered

by K-File, Tafoya said exactly that, quote, I'm embarrassed to say I live in Minnesota. The state has gone so far left, it's amazing any of the snow still sticks. A CNN K-File review found that in the years before launching her Senate campaign and tweets it on her podcast, Tafoya repeatedly said she planned to leave Minnesota. At times, she described Minnesota in sharply negative terms because of its politics while often identifying herself as a part-time Floridian and praising that state as a model of conservative governance in just the past three years, Defoyer told followers at least four separate times that she planned to leave the state. Now, K-Files is just doing the reporting here. She said she never said she was embarrassed. Turns out she had said that she was embarrassed.

But that's just doing K-Files' job provided the context about what Michelle Tafoio was talking about. But Democrats are running with this line as though it's really helpful. And I'm going to show you an example. This is really helpful for Democrats. But I really don't think it is for part of what we just read in the K-File story, which is that Michelle Defoea said she was considering leaving Minnesota. She was embarrassed because of all of the chaos in the state, fraud and chaos in the state. So Michelle Defoy, in other words, was like a Minnesota swing voter.

you're telling me that Republicans managed to recruit someone that represents many frustrated independence in the state of Minnesota. Like, Democrat's best attack on Michelle Tofoya is that she's some sort of like secret maga partisan. Their worst attack is that she's somebody who was extremely frustrated by Minnesota politics. Like, that is a disaster, a disaster for them. And so let's go ahead. There's this video that Keith Olbrose,

circulated. This is Michelle Tofoya on Fox News. And Oberman said, reporting here by probably the worst sideline reporter of all time. Aaron Rupar had posted this by saying Michelle Tafoya again claims that Minnesotans are embarrassed of their state. Let's take a look at what Michelle Tafoya actually said. We have become sort of the fraud capital of America. And it's been an embarrassment to a lot of Minnesotans who travel around and don't want to say where they're from because they get these looks of people like what has happened to your state what's going on in your state oh okay so she was embarrassed by the fraud in minnesota like 80% of people in minnesota and 100% of minnesota swing voters this attack is a disaster because it keeps drawing

attention back to michel to foyer being somebody who is uh specifically against the walls flanagan fraud administration not only is it i mean expectably dishonest because that's what happens in politics when you can take something out of context. But it is just a disaster because it keeps bringing attention back to what she was actually saying. Here's American Bridge, a dem-aligned group saying, wow, Michelle Tofoyer really hates Minnesota. Aaron Rupert again had posted Michelle Tofoyle last year, I escaped California, and now I got to escape Minnesota at some point. Do we have this video? Let's roll this video. You know, I escaped California and now I got to escape Minnesota at something.

point. Okay. So you can see it's mostly in just what she's saying, but she's talking about, again, as many independent voters look at a state that's been calcifying into a deep blue state on especially like cultural issues that, believe me, there are plenty of Minnesota snowbirds as a, someone who grew up in Wisconsin here who spent their time in Florida like Michelle Tofoya did. But other than to say, She's ingest, but she's expressing frustration with the politics. And that's the, like, median independent voter. They're trying to make it sound like she's embarrassed of the people of Minnesota. Like, you often hear, you know, they're trying to play into,

which I get why they're trying to do it, but they're trying to play into the idea that she's some high-fluid and sports broadcaster who'd rather be in Palm Beach than Minnesota. She actually doesn't like Minnesota and all of that. But I look at this and I see something that is going to, to backfire because with the swing voters that Michelle Defoya needs to convince, this draws attention to who she is, which is somebody that was so frustrated with the far-left policies that had been, again, calcifying in a deep blue state that didn't have a lot of political

competition from Republicans and really did descend into chaos, whether it was during George Floyd, whether it was with the fraud, and all of that, people are frustrated with it. And it's not to say that people aren't frustrated with the Trump administration, but Michelle Tofoya sounds like the swing voters that she needs to win over who want some reprieve from the one-party control in Minnesota. And granted, this is a federal position, obviously, it's U.S. Senate, but I don't know that this is going to land how they think it's going to land. And clearly so far what they're doing isn't working because Michelle Tofoya is like the one Republican in a blue state who is running a surprisingly close race. So not quite working so far with

41 days to go. All right, we're going to take a quick break, but when we come back, I want to weigh in on the Nolan Wells case and Kara Swisher, Kier Swisher threatening CNN with a good time. But first, for 20 years, pre-born has stood in the gap between fear and hope. And this year alone, God has used pre-born to save nearly 60,000 babies from abortion. Think about that, 60,000 babies from abortion. And since Roe v. Wade was overturned, we've talked about this many times here on the show. The abortion industry has not slowed down at all. It's actually adapted.

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Just $28 helps provide one life-changing ultrasound, $140. $140, $140, helps rescue five babies. All gifts are tax deductible. Please do give to Preborn. Love them so much. Please give today, dial pound 250 and say baby that's pound 250, baby, or visit preborn.com slash Emily. That's preborn.com slash Emily. You're probably familiar with the Nolan Wells case. I'm going to read a little bit here from a Guardian report. Just on the grand jury's decision not to bring charges in this tragic death of a teenage boy in Mississippi who the grand jury believes, all evidence points to having drowned. I read the entire grand jury report. I'm going to bring some of that to you. But I just want to start by reading a bit here from The Guardian. So in case you hadn't been following this case over

the summer, it happened on the 4th of July. All of the facts are kind of set out on the table. And then we can assess what people like Jasmine Crockett and Al Sharpton had said. So the Guardian reports, a grand jury made a unanimous. decision on late Monday night to not bring criminal charges against anyone in the mysterious death of Nolan Wells and Mississippi teen who died after a boat outing with friends on Fourth of July. The Jackson County Mississippi Grand Jury, which met from September 14th to September 18th, issued 132 subpoenas during its investigation, considered evidence from 43 witnesses and investigators, and reviewed an independent investigation by Wells' own family.

They also considered physical and digital evidence, including mobile phone data and forensic reports, photographs, videos, and GPS data. They got Snapchat analyses. They got all analyses of text messages, photos, videos, things that were on people's phones who are around. And per the grand jury report, the Guardian says, Wells chose to stay behind on the island and come back later with another group as it was, quote, not unusual or suspicious for individuals to return from the island on boats they did not travel on.

Wells' family, however, has consistently pushed back on this claim, suggesting that it is not something that the teen would have done. I just want to pause there. It may not have been something. They say they always told Nolan to stick to a group, you have power in numbers, and so you've got this group of teenagers on the 4th of July, drinking, boating, going out to a barrier island in the Gulf.

I believe it's in the Gulf. And partying, having a good time. So maybe Nolan did something that was not what, would be normal behavior if you're not kind of partying and drinking or something to that extent. But what it doesn't prove or what it isn't, I think, strong evidence in support of is that something nefarious happened. Now, there are still some questions that remain unanswered, and I'm going to get to that in just a minute. The grand jury report says the allegations against the occupants of the Triton, the Palm Beach, and the tideline, those are boats that took the teens the island, are not based in truth and are solely the result of public clamor and private malice.

Here's the meat of this. Both the independent autopsy and the state's chief medical examiner said that the cause of manner of Wells's death were undetermined. Drowning is a diagnosis of exclusion, according to the Grand Jury report. They also said the position of, the condition of time of discovery and location of Mr. Wells' body is consistent with drowning. The Grand Jury report found that Wells was not the only black person on Horn Island on July 4th. that's important because many people who were trying to create a racialized narrative around this case were saying otherwise. And the grand jury found that, quote, false assertions have led to misidentification, speculation, and rumors concerning the death of Mr. Wells. Now, Ben Crump, who is

representing the Wells family, or I should say Ben Crump is representing the Wells family. And the district attorney said in a video, the family of the Crumpteen and anyone else, and anyone close to Nolan knew that his disappearance in death were not the result. of racial hate or violence, and the 23 grand jurors included 13 men and 10 women. 12 of the jurors were white, five were black, two were Hispanic, two were Native American, one was Asian and one was identified as other. That's according to the DA's office. Now, here's where I think Benjamin Crump has a point.

Mississippi's own pathologist, he said, found two bruises on the back of this young man's head and informed investigators of them early in the investigation. An independent autopsy documented traces of blood and recent blunt force injuries to the of Nolan's head and his back. To this day, not one person has explained how they got there. Dr. Mitchell also wrote that the record does not establish whether Nolan entered the water on his own or was forced or whether he was conscious when he went in. We don't know how Nolan died and neither does the state of Mississippi. Mississippi must keep investigating and it will not pursue this to the end. If it will not pursue this to the end, the Department of Justice should.

Okay. Now, reading here from the grand jury report, they say the state of Mississippi's chief medical examiner and doctor disagree about the presence of bruising on Mr. Wells's buttocks and shoulder. The grand jury considered credible evidence concerning the circumstances of how Mr. Wells sustained the injury to the back of his head, but the exact cause of the injury remains uncertain. A witness testified under oath that he saw Mr. Wells slip awkwardly off the side of a boat around the time of 3.30 p.m. on July 4th, 20, 26, but could not say whether Mr. Wells struck his head during the fall. The witness testified that Mr. Wells continued to socialize after the fall and did not appear injured.

The grand jury understands that neither forensic expert has ruled out accidental drowning as a cause of Mr. Wells' death. While the grand jury found no evidence to explain the bruising on the back of Mr. Wells' head or the suspected bruising on his buttocks and shoulder, the grand jury cannot say with absolute certainty that this fall caused this bruising. That was an honest, accurate statement there from the grand jury report. And I do think Benjamin Crump is correct that Nolan Wells' death remains a mystery. If we can answer these questions, we should do what we can to bring this family closure.

Now, it seems entirely plausible that Nolan Wells was having a great time with some of his best friends, who he was close with. Not all white, many white, people were drinking, there were boats involved. They're out in the middle of the water on a remote island. And he slips and gets a head injury. And everybody's partying. They don't notice that he's slipped into the water and that he's gone. That seems plausible. We don't know.

And as the grand jury says, drowning, because some of the physical evidence here is consistent with it, drowning is just a just a conclusion by exclusion a soft conclusion by exclusion right it seems plausible and what there's no evidence for is actually that there's malicious activity if there's evidence that anybody

was fighting had a grudge had something wrong with nolan or had bigotry racial bigotry We should see it, but bear in mind, a grand jury interviewed 43 witnesses, issued 132 subpoenas, and had forensic access to tons of data and information. And what they're saying here is they don't have enough evidence to bring charges. And after all of this, it doesn't seem that there is any evidence to bring charges against anyone. And yet, and yet, here's Jasmine Crockett doubling down.

on racializing this case. The American people are woke. They understand that right now, they've got to be the ones to be courageous. They've got to be the ones to engage in the court cases, and they've got to show up. Because unfortunately, another thing that just happened that specifically impact, so many of us specifically black folk, is that there was a grand jury down in Mississippi that declined to do anything

as relates to the death of Nolan Wells. I know that we will spend a lot of time talking about the Senate or talking about the House, but let me be clear, it is the county judges in the state of Texas that are going to decide whether or not you even have access to the ballot box. Every single race on the ballot matters, and they know that. That is why they took over school boards to the extent that they don't want to teach African-American history in our schools. Okay. Now, if there is evidence of a bigotry or racial,

prejudice either in the crime or the investigation, mind you, the grand jury was made up a very diverse coalition of Mississippans, then we can reckon with it. And reckonings can be divisive and painful, but we should not force divisive and painful reckonings on the public when there's nothing to be reckoned with, when there's no evidence that there's some type of hate crime afoot. Again, whether with the investigation itself or the crime. And this is how Jasmine Crockett was talking back in July. I mean, I think that specifically as black Americans in the United States right now, we are always going to question whether or not there is a racial motivation, but also, if you know, the history of Mississippi,

I think that you'd have to be blind not to question potentially what is happening, especially in the case of an 18-year-old who ends up deceased without his cell phone, without any communication whatsoever with anybody prior to ending up deceased and he was out with his Caucasian friends and then law enforcement tells everybody there's no foul play to be suspected. Now, a blind man could see that there's something to investigate it. Well, it sounds like you think it is racially motivated. I absolutely think that I can tell you that we don't have any answers. But if you think that race is not something to look at, then you are not really trying to

investigate. But I will not say that I know for sure that race played a role in his death. Are you in the camp of if Nolan was white and his friends were? Yeah. Listen, they would have absolutely been under the jail with no questions asked first. Really? But we, for sure. I mean, it's just so frustrating to hear her say, well, I don't know.

But you'd be crazy not to suspect it because if you know your history, you know Mississippi. And it's like, right. Horrible, horrible history. The Mississippi of 2026, like every state in the Union, probably more in some of the southern states, absolutely grapples with the legacy of Jim Crow, slavery, of it. Of course. It's something the country will grapple with indefinitely.

This is part of our history. The Mississippi of 2026 is not the, the Mississippi of, quote, history, as Jasmine Crockett is implying it is, which is why. It's precisely why. There is no reason to jump to racial conclusions. These were Nolan Wells' friends. The jury here had African Americans on it. It was not an all-white jury.

This is a jury, a diverse coalition of jurors, as the left would say, that came to this conclusion after a rigorous investigation with tons of friends. forensic evidence, and Jasmine Crockett is still insisting on emphasizing a racial element to the case. Al Sharpton has been involved, as I'm sure that's no surprise to hear as well. Here's a clip of Al Sharpton talking about the case back in July. He was one black with three young white men who happened end up with his phone, having ended up with his keys. There's just too many questions that they should not be closing the investigation. So some people are saying, Reverend, are you all bringing in race? Well, we're not bringing in race, but we're not discounting

race either, because we don't know what it is. So to tell us, don't rush to judgment saying it was racist, it's fine. But then I'm telling you, don't rust the judgment saying it was not racism, because we do not know. We do know what these parents are being told and what the parents have now shared with us does not make sense. Again, I agree with Al Shrepton. It does not make sense.

There are unanswered questions. There's literally zero evidence other than Nolan Wells' skin color and the skin color of his friends. That's it to racialize this case. And Al Shreptan's still at it. He put out a statement after the grand jury decision in which he said, in part, Mississippi's history, literally invoking the same thing as Jasmine Crockett, Mississippi's history painfully teaches us exactly why family should never be expected to simply accept unanswered questions surrounding the death of a young black person. The history is history.

It is different than the Mississippi of 2026. Do you not hear yourself? It's not recent history. It's relatively recent in the scope and span of human history. I mention that all the time. I think it was remarkable how quickly progress was made in the United States and convincing people to dispense with these bigotries as though somebody who looks different from you is less worthy, has less dignity.

We close that gap really quickly, and there's social scientists, social science that backs that up, social scientists who will back that up. There's a body of work that will back that up. It's remarkable. It's amazing. It's precisely why it is so frustrating to just vaguely invoke history as a reason that people should see this case as racial when there's literally no evidence other than the poor kids' skin color and the skin color of his friends.

And his friends, by the way, have faced death threats. They've come under a cloud of suspicion. And the sad thing is they were his friends. they're mourning and grieving. And Jasmine Crockett and Al Sharpton are absolutely correct. We do not know what happened. We do not know what happened. It is a mystery.

And there are questions that his parents deserve answers to. And I hope that we can find them. There's no evidence pointing in the direction. And invoking history, vaguely invoking history, is not good evidence, nor is the mere presence of people of different skin colors. in 2026. That is not good enough, especially after the grand jury report

in which you had a multiracial, multi-ethnic grand jury, you had a very rigorous investigation, comprehensive investigation, tons of forensic data from people's phones, people being interviewed under oath, all of that. And not a shred of evidence turns up

to suggest that there was some racial element to this case or the investigation. So that's why they're leaning back on vaguely invoking history and skin color alone. Because that's what they have. Really bad actors. Really bad actors. And Al Sharpton is still taken seriously in the media.

But this should be stigmatized behavior. This is really sad. And it's so divisive. I have to say, they think of this case happened 10 years ago, it would be getting blasted wall-to-wall in media. People would be taking Ben Crump and Al Sharpton much more seriously. Jasmine Crockett could rebuild her political career off of a case like this,

but it's not 2014 or 2016. And I think because people have been through so many of these cases where they're told one thing is clear-cut by the Ben Crumps of the world, Al Sharpton's of the world. And as evidence comes out, it looks a bit different. Like the picture is just mixed, it's less clear, it's murkier, it stopped working.

Even the media isn't latching onto this case the same way that I think it would have 10 or so years ago. Now, again, it's still taking people like Al Sharpton seriously. Sunny Hassan has been all over this case on The View. There has been critical coverage, and there was especially after it happened. But it's not like it would have been 10 years ago. I think it's because this is, this doesn't work anymore.

People are wise to it. All right, I'm going to take one more quick break and then come back with some dessert for us. And that would be dessert in the form of Carous Swisher saying the most hilarious of all the Keras Wisher things. This might be the one that delights me most. But first, fall is here. And that means people are getting into their new routines. Let me tell you, I'm up here.

It's weird when you travel into a different season. Like it's still kind of summery in D.C. even though it's it's technically fall. I celebrate fall in September 1st. But when I got out of the car here in Maine, I was like, I have traveled into a different season, has me so excited about all of the fall routines that I get into, pumpkin spice candles being perhaps my favorite.

But one good part of your routine is not just like crossing your fingers and hoping that you don't get sick, like wearing an extra sweater, hoping you don't get sick. But if you want to start feeling your best heading into the holiday season, that starts with your gut. So September hits, you can get back into your routine. One habit that might make the biggest difference for you is cowboy colostrum. If you start taking it for your gut, maybe you feel bloated most days.

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So important. Their clinical study found that 83% of participants reported improved gut health and 79% experience less bloating and inflammation. For a limited time, our listeners get up to 25% off their entire order. just head to cowboy colostrum.com at slash afterparty and use code afterparty at checkout. That's 25% off when you use code afterparty at cowboy colostrum.com slash afterparty. Let's end the show now with Kara Swisher threatening CNN with a good time. She is very upset about the Ellison's and let me just be up front off the bat. This merger is stupid.

Stupid. It is a disaster for the media. it is more another example of consolidation throughout our economy for elites having way too high of a tolerance because it benefits them for this type of economic consolidation and media consolidation. So don't get me wrong. In fact, even now, this was a semaphore report from today. They're reporting that David Ellison has discussed bringing Elon Musk on as an investor in Paramount's merger with Warner Brothers, which could mean Musk could have a stake in CBS News.

at CNN. The Ellison takeover is turning possibly into an Elon takeover. There's also lots of foreign investment involved, which these are, I think, proud American media companies, so that irks me as well. Also worth noting that the judge overseeing the Paramount, as one expert here posted as a Politico reporter, posted the judge overseeing the Paramount anti-trust litigation has canceled Thursday's hearing on Paramount's bond request, but scheduled a new one to address outstanding questions about the proposed consent degree and has not yet approved the settlement. So all this we're hearing about the settlement, you know, coming from Rambanta with the encouragement at Gavin Newsom and other elites, it's actually not a done deal yet.

So you have Paramount agreeing to stay in L.A. for five years, agreeing to make so many movies. Now, Matt Stoller's poking holes in all of this and suggests the settlement from an antitrust perspective is weak. And having looked at it, it looks very weak. Five years. And there's all kinds of different exceptions, cutouts in the settlement. But it has not been approved yet. So there's another thing to just, you know, you can download that bit of information and take Kara Swisher with all of this context in mind on her podcast, what's it called, Pivot, with Scott Galloway, where it's a meeting of the minds, two of the most brilliant people in business and media come together and make incredibly accurate, wise pronouncements

about what's happening in Washington. Kara Swisher is saying, I love this so much. She's out. She's done with CNN. She doesn't need CNN. She's taking her ball and going home. Let's take a look. Got some props for you.

Is that okay? So, you know, I don't know if you know this, but I work for CNN sometimes. This is a CNN logo that I stole from them when I was there. Do you like it? Yeah, that's going. Okay. Oh, I want to have some nice coffee here. Let's see.

What is that? Oh, wow. Are you making an announcement? No, not an announcement. In any case, no, my contract. I was just literally reading my contract today, as you might imagine when this news struck because I threatened to leave. And I am asked my agent to get me out of my contract.

It ends December 31st. So it's only a few months, right? I just can't. I just thought, like, I was trying to. figure out ways I could work with them in some, like, licensing way. But then I thought, fuck these guys. I don't want to work for them. I just don't. I got too much to do with you, Scott Galloway. I think there's a decent likelihood when you show up to whoever it is, you show up to at CNN and say, I want out of my contract, they jump up and say, congratulations, no problem.

No, not at all. You're wrong. I know you think that. I know you'd like to run me down. We'll miss you. No. Best of luck. No. Maybe the Ellison's, that's for sure. But not to, no. No, they've been trying to keep me. Very nicely. I've been trying to keep me. I have other things that make more money that matter more that have a bigger audience. And I just let the door hit your ass on the way out. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. No, I'm just saying. I just don't want to work. Why is it, why is it they don't want me? I don't want them. And I have been very explicit. I'm breaking up with you. No, stop it. Stop it. They just stop it. They think they have shodily, I think they are terrible media owners. I'd rather work for Rupert Murdoch. Oh, no. No, no, no, no. You're telling me that CNN is very

nicely trying to keep Kara Swisher, who's responsible for sage advice to the Biden campaign in 2024, such as this. If he's going to be shameless, which is his greatest asset, the shamelessness of him, is then Biden has to get in there very hard and go rape it. racist, fascist, over and over and over again. And then the trials are happening at the same time. He's just had a pay. He's just $93 million for right now. And just hammer it in with those three things, rapist, racist, fascist.

But here's the thing. Thank you. Cutting political analysis, the likes of which CNN may never live without. Hilarious that Scott Galloway just came out and said it, because I don't think he thought it would be controversial at all to suggest maybe CNN. is done with Kara Swisher, who now presents herself as this, like, opponent of elites. She says things that makes elites feel good about themselves, right? Unless they happen to be like the Ellisons who are right of center, to be sure,

then, you know, fine. But all the, like, Manhattan cocktail party people who are, who want to feel like they have America's best interest at heart, Kara Swisher says what they should be thinking. She says things that make them feel okay about being Democrats or being liberals because it makes it okay to kind of be an elite liberal and believe that you really have America's best interest at heart. You really do. While at the same time putting down right populism constantly, constantly. And from a top-down perspective, right, as an elite journalist in Sconson, Washington, having spent so much time around tech barons, pumping them up in the past.

And now it just makes everybody feel good to listen to Karras Swisher, who has some of the worst political analysis that you can find. It's not interesting, innovative, or fresh. It is literally telling Joe Biden that the best debate tactic is still going to be to call Trump a fascist rapist. That's brilliant, brilliant stuff. And what Galloway is saying is, I think what's obvious. is kind of funny that Kara Swisher is like, no, they're trying to keep me, Scott.

Maybe the Ellison's aren't trying to keep you, but CNN's trying to keep me. Or maybe they're just making you think that they're trying to keep you to play nice so that you play nice on the way out because you've already signaled that this may be a kind of divorce in the making. Now, there's an interesting media story in this, which is Caroswisher is absolutely correct, that she does not need CNN. CNN is a credential at this point in Washington. People who go on cable news can say, well, you know, I go on CNN.

It's sort of like the little badge that makes you look kind of official in Washington circles. You're not just a podcaster, you're a CNN contributor because that still means things in the Beltway. It's increasingly less so. But it's true. She probably gets way more exposure and money through. her podcast with Galloway than she does through being a CNN contributor, which 20 years ago would be stunning. Nobody would believe it that you could have this two-person broadcast being taped over, I mean, we wouldn't have known what Zoom was, but over Skype maybe, in your basement

with a $400 microphone, unheard of. But the barriers to entry at low, and not that she needed to clear, low barrier of entry, but they're doing it without having to be part of CNN. They don't have to be part of CNN. They don't need it. So there's an interesting media story in there, and that Kara Swisher does not give a damn anymore about what used to be one of the biggest, most prestigious brands in media. It's not because she's brave. It's because CNN is not prestigious anymore.

Right. She's acting like this is courageous or even interesting. But if you were in the new media space, I mean, it's pretty clear that CNN is no longer a prestige brand. It still has some cloud in Washington, but she doesn't need it. She knows she doesn't need it. So hilarious as it is. Also kind of an interesting media story that I could not resist Karras Swisher being like, please don't make me sing, like the Kristen Wig sketch on SNL,

please don't make me stay at CNN, please don't make me stay at CNN. And Scott Galloway's like, dude, I don't think they want you. She's like, yes, they do. They try to keep me. They need me to give more Democratic candidates advice on how to lose debates. Incredible stuff. Incredible stuff.

Farewell to Karaswisher's CNN Career. That's going to do it for us tonight. Thanks for watching as I came to you live from Maine. As a reminder, we're going to be at a new time. You're going to see us earlier in the day starting on Monday. I'm willing at double-makeradmunea.com is where you can email me. I take the happy hour episodes. It's usually like Thursday afternoon.

So get your questions in before then for this week's show. Otherwise, I'll cover them on the next week's show. If you haven't listened to us, if you can get, please do subscribe on the podcast app. I feel like it's essential listening if you're a follower of the show because we get into more context and more discussions. So appreciate you all. And we'll see you over on a podcast feed Friday back here on YouTube on Monday. Have a great evening at all.