Greg Olear is back! He's the author of Rough Beast, PREVAIL columnist & podcaster, and co-host of The Five 8 on YouTube.

Topics: We discussed our concerns about the current political climate, including the potential threat to Social Security and Medicare, and the importance of a shift in the political landscape. We also discussed the potential impact of a general strike on February 28th and the need for continued efforts to raise awareness and possibly impact politicians. The conversation also touched on the importance of self-care, the power of individual resistance, and the potential for change in the political landscape.

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Writer/Director Jay Arnold is back! He directed and wrote the original screenplay for the 2023 award-winning romantic drama “Shoulder Dance.” Jay’s first Documentary “Sergio Dondoli’s Happy Life” releases in Spring 2025.

Topics: First, we talked about his upcoming documentary and then chatted a bit about self-care. Then we got into politics: Musk hacking into major government websites, how systemic racism affects all of us, fighting back against fascism and we end with what we have to be hopeful about.

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D. Earl Stephens is the author of "Toxic Tales: A Caustic Collection of Donald J. Trump's Very Important Letters."  He's the former managing editor of Stars & Stripes, a Navy vet, and a prolific writer.

Topics: With a little over a week away from Election Day, Earl and I weigh in on what we think the results will be and we specifically talk about Texas, Florida, and Wisconsin; will Gen Z show up this year; Trump and MAGA Republicans are embracing Hitler's ideology; Trump is clearly in mental decline; legacy media is a disaster, but the early vote numbers are encouraging.

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Writer/Director Jay Arnold is back on Valentine's Day! Topics: GOP has been wanting to phase out Social Security for decades; Democrats are following Biden's lead on the SS debate; Dems are finding their stride; there are a number of young Democrats who will stand the test of time; Spoutible is getting easier and easier to use and Jay and I describe our experience on the site. All that and more!

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Ben Cohen of The Banter Substack is back! Topics: The impact of MAGA behavior over the next two years; Biden is incredibly impressive; GenZ will save democracy; new social media sites are popping up and we discuss the possible impact of moral, fair social media CEOs and more!

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Simon Rosenberg was the lead strategist for the DCCC when Democrats flipped the House in 2018. He is the founder of New Democrat Network (NDN.org) and the New Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, and advocacy group based in Washington DC. Topics: Simon encourages all of us to be information warriors--that we shouldn't wait for anyone else to counter the right's extremist BS. He describes us as a family and when we organize and focus *primarily* on what Democrats have accomplished, not only for America but for the world, we are stronger than they are. So much good in this episode.

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Cliff is back! Topics: George Santos' (name unconfirmed) connection to a Russian oligarch leads us to believe he is bought and paid for by those who want to kill democracy and fascist GOP does nothing; Republican leaders are literally wishing Donald would drop dead because they're too cowardly to do anything change the party; Nikki Haley is running in 2024 lol, and Trump might run third party if he doesn't get the GOP 2024 nom!

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Steph is back! Topics: The brutal killing of Tyre Nichols is a tragic reminder we have to overhaul the system; gun culture; some personal stuff and Spoutible is almost here!

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Cheri Jacobus is back and after we talk about our love for Sex And The City, we launch into a conversation about politics: Garland; rule of law; the extreme right members of Congress; McCarthy is weak but dangerous; new Twitter alternative is coming (Spoutible), and much more!

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Rachel Vindman is an American-based writer and the co-host of the "Suburban WOmen Problem" podcast She's married to Alexander Vindman, retired U.S. Army, Lieutenant Colonel, and she's an all-around cool person. Topics: George Santos (if that's his real name) stole money from a veteran who was crowdfunding money to care for his sick dog (the dog died), pictures are surfacing of George (name unconfirmed) dressed up as a drag queen Brazil; Fascist GOPers are hellbent on doing as much damage as they can to blame Biden; what will happen to the debt ceiling; many voters are not always up-to-speed on what the debt-ceiling is and that's okay; what it means if Donald is not legally held accountable and what voters can do to secure democracy again in 2024.

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Sarah returns! Topics: Chaotic GOP in disarray for the next two years; smoking is once again allowed in offices in the Capitol; the"freedom caucus" are domestic terrorists; 2 Dems kept us from passing voting rights and a rant on the men who expect women to RT them with no ask or even a friendly hello. All that and more.

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Amanda is back and our thing! We are both talkers! Topics: COVID and the variants (sounds like a band-haha); lottery over $1 billion; Garland is taking a LONG time; (white) women make YouTube videos of themselves "Extreme Cleaning." Amanda and I talk about how that holds up the patriarchy and lots more!

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Bob Cesca (my boyfriend) is back! We asked YOU to tell us your assumptions about us as a couple and we responded to your replies. Find out why refrigerators are so important to us and what inspires us about each other. Lots of fun and no politics (kinda).

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Jennifer Taylor-Skinner is a writer, essayist, and creator & host of the award-winning podcast, The Electorette—one of the longest-running feminist podcasts, offering analyses and solutions to the world's biggest political and social challenges, all through the lens of women.

Topics: Trump's campaign is in freefall, he had a disastrous Town Hall in PA earlier this week and a disastrous Univision Town Hall with Latino voters while Harris is nailing every media appearance, including an adversarial interview on Fox; JD Vance's only focus is on demeaning childless women; it has become clear this is about a Vance presidency; Jennifer talks about Harris' Opportunity Agenda for Black Men and how the black community is being pushed out of the voting process by Republicans; and the problematic white women who keep voting red. All that and more! 

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The wonderful and glorious Mary Trump is back for the first Start Me Up podcast of 2023! Topics: Republicans in disarray (McCarthy loses 8th vote for House Speaker while we chatted); 2024 Election Season will be a madhouse; we both agree indictments are coming; Mary doesn't trust Garland but is happy Jack Smith is on the job; new social media sites on the horizon and so much more. Mary also offered up what we have to be hopeful about.

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The last Start Me Up podcast of the year! Rick Shew is my guest. He's a podcaster, an actor, a liberal, and a cool dude! His pods: @FriendsWorkPod & @barstoolpod. We chatted about movies, guilty pleasure shows, acting/actors. We also talked about possible indictments and what the 2024 presidential cast of candidate characters will look like and how it will impact Donald's future. Because it's the last show of the year, we kept it light.

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Jody is back and we do our thing! Politics, of course, and fun stuff, too!

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Greg Olear is back and we talked about all the things: DeSantis has no charisma, Rupert Murdoch has turned on Trump; Trump is the GOP's biggest loser; Greg weighs in on Jack Smith and his confidence on the whole DOJ process; Elon is a menace and so much more.

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Fred Wellman is a Pro-Democracy advocate and a political consultant. He's an Army combat veteran. Host of the On Democracy podcast He's the co-founder of the Beer Hall Project and he's a senior advisor to Voters of Tomorrow. Topics: Donald Trump, the GOP, and Trumpism; Donald's legal problems as well as his big mouth just might get him jail time; the threat posed by chaos agents Milo, Ye and Elon and much more!

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Jared is a political analyst and author. His latest book, THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM: A HISTORY OF POWER, PARANOIA, AND THE COMING CRISIS, comes out in January. Topics: antisemitism and toxic conspiracy theories have been a central component of Conservatism from the start; why Jared feels a positive change is taking place; why Milo, Ye and Elon are dangerous; despite the US not wanting to prosecute a former POTUS, Trump is making it impossible for them not to, and why 2024 offers some real hope for democracy.

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Sarah Wood returns! Topics: GOP is doubling down on hate; Trump is running for POTUS but GOP is rejecting him; the infighting on the right is something to watch; Elon is a chaos agent; and living in an openly bigoted America is deadly! But Sarah and I still managed to have a great chat and we wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

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Victor Shi, the youngest elected Delegate for Joe Biden in 2020, former White House Intern, Strategy Director for Voters Tomorrow, and co-host of the iGen Politics Podcast. He's a writer, speaker, organizer, and activist. Topics: GenZ showed up and helped Democrats have a historic midterm turnout; why the youth vote will continue to gain steam; GOP is selling a dystopian future and the younger generation is not buying it; the feud between Donald and DeSantis and how indictments will affect 2024. All that and much more.

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Christopher Bouzy is a serial entrepreneur, software engineer, and political maven and he’s the founder and CEO of Bot Sentinel. It’s a free platform developed to detect and track trollbots and untrustworthy Twitter accounts. Topics: There was no "red wave" and traditional pundits got it wrong (and aren't admitting it); Bouzy's predictions came to pass (for the most part); Trump extremists lost and GOP leadership, as well as Rupert Murdoch, is turning on him; who might be the GOP 2024 nom and lots more!

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It's Election Day and Cliff Schecter joins me again! Topics: GOP is threatening Civil War if they lose, Elon continues to kill Twitter, Mastodon; more the new site I keep teasing; midterm predictions and more!

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D. Knight is the host of the Pardon the Insurrection Podcast.

Topics: We discuss the idea of a possible silent majority: will there be massive support for Harris that isn't being measured, or is the race as close as legacy media tells us? Independent media is on the rise; The Harris campaign messaging is what Democratic voters have been waiting to see; talking with MAGA relatives and much more.

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Writer/Director Jay Arnold is back! Topics: early voting numbers are good for Democrats; Elon is a jerk; the blue check scandal rages on -- and why those badges matter; the fate of social media and pop-culture fun stuff!

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Allison Gill is the host of Mueller, She Wrote, and The Daily Beans podcasts. She's a veteran, Ph.D., and a former federal government executive, she’s a comedian, author, and staunch advocate for the resistance. Topics: Allison's infamous White House visit; killing Roe will bite the GOP in the ass next Tuesday...youth, women, conservative women--and AG makes a prediction; Donald indictments likely in a month or so; the deplorable GOP response to Paul Pelosi in the ICU after being assaulted with a hammer, Elon is why we can't have nice Twitter and much more

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Go-Go's bassist Kathy Valentine is a woman of many talents. Her memoir "All I Ever Wanted" is a fantastic view into her life as a young girl who dreamed of being in a successful rock band and seeing that dream come true. Her writing is raw, real, and very relatable. She talks about her relationship with her mom, her choice to have abortions (at critical times in her life), and how being in the Go-Go's gave her a sense of family as well as a whole lotta fun and drama. Kathy is cool, down-to-earth, smart and very talented. A great conversation.

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She goes by "Scully" on Twitter and her bio reads "Passionate lawyer focused on the Rule of Law & stopping the authoritarianization of the United States." She's an Iranian/American attorney and a big part of our focus was on the women's movement happening right now in Iran. Scully explains how important it is to amplify the truth of what's going on, how the right is using it to spread disinformation, and why it's important for allies to not only stand up with but to get the info right in the effort to support the fight for a secular, democratic Iran. We also talked about the US midterms and the threat of American fascism. Ultimately, the chat was optimistic and very informative,

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Simon Rosenberg was the lead strategist for the DCCC when Democrats flipped the House in 2018. He is the founder of New Democrat Network (NDN.org) and the New Policy Institute, a liberal think tank and advocacy group based in Washington DC. Topics: New voting data is very encouraging and offers Democrats some hope and legit optimism for a successful 2022. Simon makes it clear this election will be close and that nothing can be taken for granted, but the numbers we're seeing in key battleground states are promising. Simon emphasized the more we hear about early voting the more pressure on Dems to get out there and GOTV. He advises voting NOW if you can. No matter what you're feeling as we approach Election Day, Simon's takes on what's going on should be required listening. There's also stats and numbers for the data nerds out there!

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Kat Cary is an American ex-pat who lives in Scotland and she's part of Democrats Abroad. We talked about the importance of ex-pats participating in American elections, what people from other countries think of Americans, and Kat filled us in on the Global Women's Caucus--an arm of Dems Abroad. It was a very interesting chat!

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The lovely and talented Sarah Wood returns! Sarah explains why she's optimistic about November; we discussed the docudrama: Dahmer, and then we talked about the batshit crazy, fascist GOP.

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Melissa Jo Peltier's latest documentary The Game Is Up: Disillusioned Trump Voters Tell Their Stories is a fascinating look at the folks who voted for Trump and later regretted it.  Melissa and I had a fantastic conversation about her film and the people she interviewed. We eventually drifted over to current events and had a great discussion about what's at stake and what needs to be done to further prevent another right-wing coup.

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Voters of Tomorrow was founded in 2019 by then 17-year-old Santiago Mayer, an immigrant from Mexico. Santiago noticed a lack of political engagement at his high school and decided to tackle that by creating a new organization for young people, by young people. Santiago explained how Voters of Tomorrow works, what they do, and how they are lobbying for youth rights. He emphasized the determination of Gen Z to show up and he predicts a high voter turnout with young people as well as with all voting blocs. He also told us about the altercation with Marjorie Taylor Greene and that an ethics complaint will soon be filed. So much good stuff in this show!

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Tiffany Bond is a family law attorney who's running as a House Rep in Maine's second district. Her strategy is unique, she doesn't take contributions. She has no campaign staff and she asks that if voters wish to support her with cash, they should use that money to support small businesses and charities in Maine. Maine is a state that utilizes ranked choice voting and that helps candidates like Bond make a bigger impact. We talked about her campaign, abortion rights and the best way voters can get involved.

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Democratic Strategist Rachel Bitocofer is back. She's the author of Hit 'Em Where It Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at Their Own Game.

Topics: What Democrats are getting right in their messaging and how they can improve; the importance of down-ballot voting AND messaging; how the latest Jack Smith filing could affect the election; Donald Trump's rhetoric is increasingly more dangerous as Harris rises in the polls; how important the VP debate was and what you can do before Election Day. All that and more. 

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Christopher Bouzy is a serial entrepreneur, software engineer, and political maven and he’s the founder and CEO of Bot Sentinel. It’s a free platform developed to detect and track trollbots and untrustworthy Twitter accounts. Topics: First we talked about what's going on at Bot Sentinel and then we dove into politics: Why Christopher has an optimistic take on the midterms; Why the evisceration of Roe is so important for Democrats; Christopher tells us which investigation he believes will bring the first Trump indictment and much more! 

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Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner is back to break down yesterday's NYAG announcement! Glenn weighs in on what this latest civil lawsuit against Trump and his children means for the family and their business. We discussed the pace at which the DOJ is moving; the two sets of justice in America; what might happen to Donald if he's convicted and which investigation into Donald Trump will be the most likely to result in a conviction. So much packed into this podcast!

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Rachel Bitecofer is back to talk about messaging and the midterms. Topics: the House is competitive; why is Herschel Walker slightly ahead of Warnock; Rachel explains why Fetterman's messaging is so successful; is it worth it for Dems to fund the right-wing extremists as a winning strategy and why Dems need to be laser-focus on the evisceration of Roe.

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Jeremy Newberger is the CEO of Ironbound Films, a documentary, and new media production company. He's a Twitter Political Satirist, Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker, and TV Director. After Jeremy shared a little about his career as a documentary filmmaker, we dove into politics: why humor is essential in today's political climate; stupid GOP messaging and their absurd midterm strategies; what happens after Trumpco is held accountable; MAGA voters fall for anything and so much more

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Greg Olear is back and he has a new book coming out. We talked about that then we discussed current headlines: The Leonard Leo threat to democracy; Greg wants 81 SCOTUS judges; midterms are approaching and Dems seem to be leading, and so much more. Greg is always fun and awesome.

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Nick Knudsen returns! He's the Executive Director of DemCast USA--a grassroots organization created to help Democratic down-ballot candidates win. It's a great way to get involved and you can do it from the comfort of your own home. Topics: how anyone can help Democrats win--no matter your comfort level; why Dems have the advantage and how we can win; messaging does not only come from leaders, journalist Anne Garrels passed away; and why we have reason to be hopeful.

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Freekbass is back! He's a funk artist based in Ohio and one of the nicest humans on the planet. We went back and forth over politics, music, and film/TV. Topics: The newest vaccine is now available in some areas; media is failing us; there's more to be hopeful about than we're led to believe; Freek gives a review of the new Elvis movie and much more!

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Allison Gill is the host of Mueller, She Wrote, and The Daily Beans podcasts. She's a veteran, Ph.D., and a former federal government executive, she’s a comedian, author, and staunch advocate for the resistance Topics: After we dance jigs and laugh at Sarah Palin's loss, we talk about the trouble Lindsey Graham is in and then we talk about the trouble Donald Trump is in and then we talk about the trouble domestic terrorists are in. Of course, we discuss the midterms, and even though Dems are gaining momentum, we all have to stay in this because we have a lot to overcome!

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Jennifer Taub is a Law Professor at Western New England University and the author of Big Dirty Money.  Her focus is on corporate governance, financial market regulation, and white-collar crime. Topics: Jennifer talks us through Trump's legal woes--and there are many. She shares possible outcomes and we discuss the prospect of what might happen if Trump is convicted. GOP is threatening Civil War; women--especially young women--are registering as Democrats in big numbers and Jennifer offers some great, positive insight on what we have to be hopeful about!

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Comedian Andy Kindler is my guest!  He played the character "Andy", a fellow sportswriter on the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond, was a regular guest on Late Show with David Letterman, contributor to The Daily Show, and has performed on HBO. Andy and I had fun. I laughed. A lot! We shared stories, talked a little about politics a lot about fun stuff--like the comics who inspired him, what it was like working with David Letterman as well as both of us dunking on Bill Maher. I shared the story of how I got to be considered as a guest on Real Time and Andy is...Andy! Funny and loveable! Andy is a wonderful human and a hilarious comic. 

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Brian Karem is a White House Columnist and his latest book is titled Free the Press: The Death of American Journalism and How to Revive It. He's a political analyst for Salon and hosts the "Just Ask The Question" podcast.

Topics: Brian weighs in on Harris doing more interviews; the Harris campaign has the momentum, Trump is desperate and begging for money; the Olivia Nuzzi scandal is about journalistic integrity and not about an affair; the Walz/Vance debate will be entertaining but will it sway voters? We discuss Trump's sentencing--the possible outcomes and so much more! 

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David is BACK! It's been a while and we pick up where we left off. We talk about, and listen to, David's amazing new son Higher Ground and then we shoot the shit. I tell the story about when I had sex (I was in my 30s) with a young guy with a massive package. Also discussed... self-esteem, self-love, pets, a little bit of politics and a whole lotta fun.

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Brian Karem is a White House Columnist and his latest book is titled Free the Press: The Death of American Journalism and How to Revive It. He's a political analyst for CNN and hosts the "Just Ask The Question" podcast. Topics: Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg admitted to 15 felonies; Liz Cheney's future; everything hinges on the 2022 midterms and much more!

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Andy Parker's life changed when his daughter, journalist Alison Parker, was shot and killed on live television in 2015. Google, Facebook, and YouTube allow the video of his daughter's murder to be posted, and they all profit from it because of monetization. He channeled his grief into action and became an outspoken advocate for common-sense gun legislation, traveling around the country demanding change and speaking for victims and survivors of gun violence. We talked about what happened and what he's doing to effect change--which includes running for office, writing a book and starting a PAC that will help elect candidates who support common-sense gun legislation as well as the regulation of social media platforms.

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