American Fever Dream

Sami and Amanda catch up on a peak 2020 smattering of headlines, from Rudy’s red carpet COVID treatment to the next stage of America’s most disgraced former employee’s coup attempt. Then, they’re joined by Crooked Media’s political director Shaniqua McClendon to discuss how to get involved in the Georgia runoffs. She describes coordinating with grassroots groups in Georgia to ensure volunteer effo...

Alise, Kaitlin, and Amanda are back to reflect on the deadliest day of the pandemic while our government does virtually nothing to stem the tide of death and economic destruction. They check in on the state of stimulus talks and break down what politicians fail to grasp about what it costs to live. Why does America bother having good credit if we don’t even use it? Finally, they break down the imp...

Sami and Amanda are joined by Sara Azari, criminal defense attorney and author of “Unprecedented: A Simple Guide To The Crimes Of The Trump Campaign And Presidency.” Azari explains what the next few years might look like for Trump now that he’s lost the power of the presidency. Will he actually be held accountable for his crimes, and how soon will it happen? What’s Trump’s most likely route to pri...

Alise, Milly, and Amanda are back to celebrate two very special holidays. First, they honor Safe Harbor Day by sharing what in their own life they’d apply a six-day rule to. Then it’s on to V-Day in the UK, where the first patients outside clinical trials began receiving COVID vaccines. Next, they run through the Trump administration’s latest display of deadly ineptitude and why it dropped the bal...

Sami, Bryan, and Amanda are back to break down the weekend’s wildest headlines, beginning with Matthew McConaughey’s bad takes on electoral politics. They discuss Rudy’s COVID diagnosis and how we actually expected his parade of indignities to end. They catch up on the Georgia Senate race, including Kelly Loeffler’s tepid debate performance and David Perdue ghosting the state he was elected to rep...

Sami and Amanda are back to debrief on the New York Young Republicans annual gala held in… New Jersey, and try to imagine Matt Gaetz’s big night out. They congratulate Dr. Fauci on his new boss and consider the many ways Donald Trump is sabotaging the Georgia Senate races. Finally, they consider how we’ll recalibrate our reactions to politicians’ bad behavior post-Trump and check in on Ivanka’s le...

Alise, Kaitlin, and Amanda catch up on the Trump admin’s race to cause as much destruction and cruelty before leaving office as possible. Namely, by quietly changing the citizenship test to be longer, harder, and tinged with conservative ideology. Then, they unpack former President Barack Obama’s criticism of “defund the police” and why the country’s most beloved but verbose former president shoul...

On today’s episode, Sami is joined by Betches Sup producer Sean Kilby to discuss the latest news about presidential pardons coming out of the White House. They start with a conversation about the [redacted] Justice Department investigation into a potential pay-for-pardon scheme. They also talk about a report that Trump is already talking about pardoning Rudy Giuliani, as well as his own children....

Alise, Milly and Amanda start the show by roasting the White House’s chaotic holiday plans, from Melania decorating with 17,000 bows despite not giving a f*ck about Christmas, to the Trumps planning a dozen holiday parties. Then, they break down Republican objection to Biden cabinet appointees who were mean to them on Twitter. Finally, they discuss the Supreme Court growing impatient with the Trum...

Sami, Bryan, and Amanda are back to break down all the news you meant to catch up on before the end of the holiday weekend, from various Trumpertantrums (™ Alise Morales) at a miniaturized desk and to the president lashing out at Georgia’s Republican governor. They describe Biden’s groundbreaking new appointees and his broken bones. Finally, they check in on the state of the pandemic that threaten...

Kaitlin and Amanda are joined by former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and fellow podcast host Julián Castro to discuss parenting during a pandemic and pushing for progressive change now that the election is ending. They discuss what the election showed us about Texas’s path to becoming a blue state and what conversations about the “Latino vote” usually miss. Finally, Secretary Castro...

Alise, Milly, and Amanda start the show in a festive mood, checking in on Melania Trump’s first Christmas outing since she was outed as a Grinch and playing a 2018 throwback of Donald shaming a turkey who lost the pardoning contest but wouldn’t concede. Then they check in on their best girl Emily Murphy, who finally signed a letter that gave Joe Biden the .gov website he’s been waiting for. They a...

Sami, Bryan, and Amanda are back to monitor the progress of the failed president’s failed coup attempt and how the President-elect is building a government without taxpayer funds. Why is Joe Biden crowdfunding the transition when Americans are still unemployed at record levels? Blame Emily. They run through the Biden administration’s exciting new hires and share how Christian groups donated $2 mil...

Amanda and Sami are back to debrief on the CDC canceling Thanksgiving and why we should have made the last Thursday in July a federal holiday instead. Then, they debrief on Rudy Giulinali's nauseating performance yesterday and check on the state of Trump’s ongoing failed coup attempts. How do we acknowledge how chilling this is without indulging a narrative that only helps the coup along? Both hos...

Alise, Kaitlin, and Amanda start the pod by sharing their excitement about “A Promised Land,” Obama’s new 700-word tomb that Kaitlin reviewed for the Boston Globe. Then they discuss Joe Biden’s growing frustration with the Trump administration’s failure to take part in the transition of power, restricting access to timely pandemic information while close to 2,000 Americans die daily of coronavirus...

Sami, Amanda, and Bryan are back to run down the day’s especially wacky headlines, from Rudy Giuliani charging the Trump campaign $20,000 a day to Ivanka’s maid of honor sharing embarrassing details from their childhood. Then, they consider last ditch Republican attempts to overturn the election and explain why they won’t work. Finally, they try to square Lindsey Graham’s treasonous attempt to tam...

Alise and Amanda are back with guest host Milly Tamarez to deconstruct Republicans’ insane approach to the COVID pandemic even after Trump lost. Why are they so attached to denying public health guidance when doing so might have lost them the presidency? We explore how COVID conspiracies travel through rural areas and why everyone needs a barber who will tell them that QAnon isn’t real. Finally, t...

Amanda and Bryan are back to run through the weekend’s top headlines. First, they update you on the out-of-control pandemic prompting shutdown measures across the country. But are they enough to stop the spread? They also explain the latest vaccine developments and why they should motivate Americans to hunker down in 2020’s final months. Finally, they explain how the Trump administration’s ineptit...

Sami and Amanda are back to remind you that Joe Biden is our President-Elect and Donald Trump has no case! Then, they run down everything you need to know about the worsening pandemic. Why are schools closing before bars, and what does that say about our country’s priorities? They also run through everyone who got COVID from the White House election party -- the third outbreak in eight months. Fin...

On this episode of the Sup, Alise and Bryan are back with some good news: Joe Biden still won the election! They start with news that Trump has apparently been telling advisers that he might run again in 2024. Next, they explain why he should probably stop celebrating the fact that Georgia will conduct a “manual audit” of the presidential election votes and talk about Facebook’s absurd reason for...

Amanda and Kaitlin are back to run through the Trump administration’s somewhat terrifying overhaul of the country’s national security apparatus amid concerns the president could be preparing an authoritarian takeover (or coverup) while AG Bill Barr invites prosecutors to investigate vague claims of voter fraud. Casual! They also explain how state legislatures could be even more insidious in steali...

Bryan and Amanda are back to break down how Republicans are emboldening a tyrannical president who refuses to recognize the results of a legitimate democratic election. Which of these legal challenges and procedural threats should we be worried about, if any? Which Republicans are actually behaving like patriotic public servants? Finally, they explain how the incoming Biden-Harris administration i...

Amanda, Sami, and Alise are back to celebrate the imminent end of the Trump presidency. They discuss Saturday’s call and how they each heard the news that Biden had won the race. Plus, they react to Kamala Harris's historic rise to the Vice Presidency, and reflect on the final days of the campaign. They also run through the Donald and co’s response, including the debacle at Four Seasons Total Land...

Sami and Amanda are back for election day part IV. It's happening. It happened? They run through the latest returns after Georgia and Pennsylvania flipped for Biden and reflect on how the race has changed in a matter of days. They marvel at Georgia’s incredible turnout and bow down to Stacey Abrams while looking forward to the January Senate races that will determine the balance of power. Then, th...

As day three of Electionchella continues, Alise and Bryan are back to update us on all the latest news about a still-undecided election. They start with Georgia, Nevada and Arizona, three states that have everyone holding their breath. Plus, they talk about what’s taking Pennsylvania so long to count their votes (apparently it’s someone’s birthday and there’s a cake in the breakroom). Next, they d...