The Karel Show

What Do You Do When Trump Decides You're Not A Citizen? My sister was born in Massachusetts in 1957 and has the birth certificate to prove it. But not according to Donald Trump's America. She is in Arizona and receives state aid. She just received a letter she is being cut off. Why? It says the SAVE System, the system the Supreme Court said Trump can use to verify citizenship, a system that was ne...

"This Gay Week: Progress and Panic, All in 7 Days" It's This Gay Week on The Karel Cast — and this week proves LGBTQ rights are moving in every direction at once, sometimes in the same breath. Turkey just arrested 241 people in an anti-trans sweep so severe that human rights groups are now demanding the EU freeze its accession bid entirely. Indonesia has officially classified "LGBTQ culture" as a...

Your Health Is Your Most Valuable Asset — Are You Actually Protecting It? Your health determines almost everything about the life you get to live — yet how much time do we actually spend protecting it? Today on The Karel Cast, we look at what you can do every day to improve your odds of living a longer, healthier life: exercise, diet, daily habits, preventive care and the medical advances changing...

Trump, Hollywood & Streaming: Is Entertainment Taking Over Politics?** Politics has become entertainment — and entertainment has become political. Donald Trump came to the presidency after decades as a celebrity and reality-TV star. His administration has included people with backgrounds in television, podcasting and other media. Meanwhile, Hollywood is facing another wave of consolidation, st...

Why Hate Is the Only Thing Uniting America Right Now America doesn't have one shared value left — except hate. Not division, not gun violence, not high prices. Just hate. And it's everywhere: from the Ed Sheeran pile-on after he simply called out the catastrophe in Gaza, to Trump banning CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House for daring to tell the truth. We feel it at the gas pump, in line...

160 Arrested for Being Gay — Why Is the World Silent? Over 160 people arrested in Turkey — for being LGBTQ. This is one of the most alarming crackdowns on gay rights in recent memory, and almost nobody's talking about it. This Gay Week, after an Ukraine check-in, Scott Jacobsen joins Karel to break down what's happening in Turkey: why it's happening now, who's behind it, and how the rest of the wo...

Why Can't We Criticize Israel? Ed Sheeran's Band Just QUIT Ed Sheeran's band walked. Every opening act pulled out. AOC says she'd turn off the radio if he came on. And the thing nobody will name out loud is the reason why. In today's world it seems there's exactly one country immune to criticism — Israel. Meanwhile Trump agrees to sell $2.8 billion in weapons we don't have to spare, for a war we s...

Do Award Shows Even Matter Anymore? Plus: Macklemore Dropped From Ed Sheeran’s Tour Over Palestine The Emmys just happened. Did anyone outside Hollywood actually care? Award shows have always caught flak for being elitist, out-of-touch spectacles — but they still move the needle: box office bumps, viewership spikes, higher asking prices for the winners. The real question is whether any of that sti...

AI Extinction Warnings vs. Trump’s AI Policy: What’s at Stake? Could artificial intelligence threaten humanity—and how is Washington responding? The Karel Cast examines AI extinction warnings, Donald Trump’s approach to AI regulation, and the debate over how fast this technology should advance. Leading AI researchers and industry executives have called for treating extinction risk as a global prio...

The Gay Hero Who Helped Stop 9/11 — And the Partner Benefits Fight That Came After He helped take down a hijacked plane headed for the Capitol — then his own partner had to fight to be recognized at all. Tomorrow marks 9/11, and one of the biggest heroes of that day was Mark Bingham — one of the four passengers on Flight 93 who fought back, forcing the plane down in a Pennsylvania field instead of...

Zepbound Could Save My Heart — Or Wreck My Gallbladder | The 9/11 Lie Nobody Talks About My cardiologist just offered me Zepbound — for my heart, my weight, my blood pressure. So why am I hesitating? Zepbound and the other GLP-1 weight loss drugs are being called wonder drugs, and for good reason: lower blood pressure, less risk of Afib, real weight loss. My doctor says he’s comfortable putting me...

Trump’s Wild Weekend: If This Happened on a Plane, They’d Tape Him to the Chair A passenger aboard a flight from Tucson reportedly became so disruptive—using racial and homophobic slurs and behaving aggressively—that he ultimately had to be restrained. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump spent part of the holiday weekend posting a barrage of unusual material on Truth Social, including maps depicting...

This Gay Week: Anti-LGBTQ Violence Rises as Trump Officials Joke About Our Lives Anti-LGBTQ violence is rising in America—and while LGBTQ people are being attacked and killed, members of the Trump administration are making jokes. What is happening to LGBTQ safety in the United States, and how much are politics, religion and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric contributing to the climate we're living in? On this e...

Are Influencers Dying? Why Brands Are Spending Billions on the New Creator Economy The era of the influencer may be ending—but influence itself is bigger business than ever. Social media has changed dramatically, and the creators who once dominated Instagram, YouTube and TikTok are discovering that simply showing off a fabulous lifestyle isn't enough anymore. So what happened to the traditional in...

Trump Isn't The Problem — Our Broken Institutions Are Everyone with a functioning brain is disgusted by Trump — alienating our allies, unjust wars, prices at the pump and grocery store skyrocketing, and dodging accountability on Epstein. But here's the uncomfortable truth: it's not his fault. So who IS to blame? 🔴 The voters who got conned — again — by a man who played their racism, nationalism,...

Monday News Meltdown Iran Strikes, Nepal’s Death, Trump’s Lake, Rogue AI — Monday News Meltdown USA attacks Iran again. Nepal’s death toll climbing to horrifying numbers. Trump pettily trying to rename a lake out of spite. Canada refusing to bow to the Orange Oligarch. And AI quietly acting on its own without anyone’s permission. Welcome to Monday. You wanted a hopeful start to your week. Instead...

Dolly Parton’s LGBTQ Legacy, Texas Drag Ban Defeated & Hope for Uganda Why did the loss of Dolly Parton resonate so deeply throughout the LGBTQ community? On this edition of “This Gay Week,” Karel and Scott Douglas Jacobsen of The Good Men Project examine Parton’s enduring legacy as an ally—and why the deaths of certain LGBTQ icons and supporters become defining cultural moments. Karel and Sco...

Dolly Parton’s Death Raises a Big Question: Does the Public Have a Right to Know? Dolly Parton’s death shocked millions of fans around the world. Within hours, the public learned that cancer was the cause. But increasingly, when celebrities, politicians and other public figures die, we hear that they died—but not necessarily how or why. So where should the line be drawn between a family’s right to...

Democrats Need to Figure It Out, Fast YesterdayTrump Tanks But Democrats Don't Soar in America—Can They Turn It Around Before It’s Too Late? Donald Trump’s approval ratings are falling—but Democrats shouldn’t celebrate yet. Many polls suggest the Democratic Party is struggling to win over voters, build enthusiasm, and present a compelling alternative. In this episode of The Karel Cast, Karel asks...

Trump's War on Americans Continue YesterdayTrump's War on Americans ContinueTrump’s Canada Tariff, Iran Conflict & ICE Crackdown: Americans Pay the PriceDonald Trump’s latest policies could hit Americans where it hurts most: their wallets, workplaces, healthcare, and communities. In this episode of The Karel Cast, Karel examines how a new tariff on Canadian goods could raise prices across cons...

LGBTQ Rights Under Attack: Ukraine, Russia, Africa and the Politics Behind the Backlash Why are LGBTQ+ people increasingly being targeted during times of war, political instability and economic uncertainty? In this episode of This Gay Week, Scott Jacobsen joins Karel live from Ukraine during one of the most intense nights of bombing in the war. Together, they examine the realities facing LGBTQ+ co...

Did Lizzie Borden Get Away With Murder? The Chilling Truth Behind the Legend Did Lizzie Borden really take a hatchet and murder her father and stepmother—or has history convicted an innocent woman? As Netflix revisits the infamous Lizzie Borden case in Ryan Murphy’s Monster, The Karel Cast investigates the evidence, unanswered questions and surprising details behind one of America’s most enduring...

Is the West Running Out of Water? Las Vegas, Trump & a Congress in Hiding Lake Powell is approaching record-low territory, the Colorado River crisis is intensifying—and the American West is running out of time. When will our leaders finally treat this like the emergency it is? Karel examines a frightening New York Times report about the future of Lake Powell and what it could mean for Las Vega...

Why Americans Defend the Indefensible: Trump, Billionaires & Corporate Power Why do so many Americans defend corporations, billionaires and political leaders whose actions may work against their own interests? After discussing how corporate power is damaging everyday life in America, Karel was stunned to see viewers rush to defend the corporations. California remains deeply divided over taxing...

LGBTQ Rights Worldwide: UN Honors Advocates as Senegal Arrests 72 Men | This Gay Week LGBTQ rights are making headlines worldwide. Scott Jacobsen of The Good Men Project joins Karel live from Ukraine for a new edition of “This Gay Week,” examining major stories affecting LGBTQ+ people and communities around the globe. In this episode: The United Nations honors five people for their extraordinary s...