The Problem With...

In this deeply personal episode of Off the Record , I open up about what it’s really like to walk into a program that’s been through years of high turnover — the exhaustion, the rebuilding, and the resistance that comes when you try to bring structure and consistency back to a place that’s lost both. But let me be clear — this episode isn’t about one person, one school, or one situation. It’s abou...

In this Off the Record update, I return from a short break to dive headfirst into the chaos consuming both Oklahoma and Washington, D.C. We start local with Ryan Walters , Oklahoma’s scandal-plagued Superintendent of Public Instruction, whose latest controversy — a TV in his office allegedly flashing nude images during a board meeting — has spiraled into investigations, denials, and finger-pointin...

In this emergency episode of Off the Record , we take on the firestorm ignited by Donald Trump's claim that he would consider pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell — the convicted sex trafficker at the center of the Epstein scandal. But that’s only the beginning. We dive into the media spin, the normalization of abuse, and the calculated distractions meant to protect the powerful. Then, we turn our focu...

In this episode of Off the Record , we go deep into the story the media won’t stay on — and the distractions they use to keep us from looking. Segment 1 unpacks how President Donald Trump was formally briefed in May 2025 that his name appears in the Epstein files — and how his legal team, the DOJ, and even corporate media are doing everything possible to bury it. Segment 2 turns to Oklahoma, where...

They told us that if we worked hard, we’d succeed. That grit beats luck. That poverty is a personal failure. But that was never true. And in this episode, we rip the mask off the most toxic lie in American culture: the myth of the bootstrap. Over five in-depth segments, we break down the history, the policies, and the human cost of a system built not to reward hard work—but to protect wealth, puni...

For decades, we've been told to fear the wrong people. In this explosive, five-part deep dive, we uncover the origins of the “groomer” smear — a lie born in bigotry, repackaged through fear, and weaponized by both church leaders and Republican politicians to silence victims and protect abusers. We expose the real statistics around child sexual abuse. We break down how religious institutions li...

This episode kicks off our deep dive into the slow dismantling of American public education — not by accident, but by design. We explore how a 1983 report, A Nation at Risk , triggered a nationwide panic that turned classrooms into testing centers, teachers into proctors, and students into data points. We examine how policies like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top created a culture of compl...

In 2003, Donald Trump wrote a birthday card to Jeffrey Epstein. That’s not speculation. That’s what the Wall Street Journal just reported, backed by documents from Epstein’s own archive. This isn’t just a polite note. It’s a window into a relationship Trump pretended didn’t exist. A relationship with a man who, by 2003, was already known in elite circles for trafficking girls. Trump knew. He had h...

They say the Republican Party freed the slaves. They say Democrats are the real racists. They say Lincoln would vote red today. But while they hide behind 1865, they're banning books about Black history in 2025. They’re gutting voting rights, erasing DEI, mocking Juneteenth, and protecting a rapist named Trump. In this episode, we tear down the myth that Republicans are the party of racial jus...

We’ve all heard the story. Work hard, follow the rules, and you’ll make it in America. But what if the American Dream was never meant for everyone? In this episode of The Lies We Tell , we break down how the myth of the American Dream has been used to justify inequality, mask systemic failure, and keep working people chasing something that was never real in the first place. We look at who profits...

This isn’t just a bad week for red states — it’s a blueprint for how the GOP destroys lives and then calls it leadership. In this extended reflection, we take on Ryan Walters , Oklahoma’s Secretary of Education, who just promised free school lunches — but with zero new funding. Districts are now being forced to choose between feeding children or firing teachers . We break down his dangerous, racis...

Years later, they’re still lying about what happened on January 6. In this episode of The Lies We Tell , we walk through the truth of that day — the planning, the violence, the cover-up, and the dangerous rewrite happening in real time. From Trump’s “Will be wild” tweet to the gallows outside the Capitol, from Proud Boys and Oath Keepers to politicians minimizing it as a “tourist visit,” we expose...

What happens when the war machine runs out of foreign enemies? In this special multi-segment deep-dive, we trace how the logic, tools, and propaganda of America’s endless wars have been turned inward — weaponizing our classrooms, protests, borders, and even identities. From the militarization of public schools and police forces to the abuse of emergency powers and the corporate surveillance econom...

Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” just passed — and behind the flashy name is a brutal truth: this bill guts Medicaid, slashes food assistance, and explodes the national debt… all while handing massive tax breaks to the rich. In this episode of Off the Record , we break down exactly how this bill got its votes, who benefits (spoiler: it’s not you), and why this is the biggest wealth transfer since...

In this episode of The Lies We Tell , I break down one of the most dangerous myths in America: that universal healthcare is impossible here. We expose the truth behind rising medical bankruptcies, the illusion of "choice" under private insurance, and the hypocrisy of military personnel and politicians who benefit from government-funded healthcare — while denying it to the rest of us. We...

What makes an immigrant “good”? Is it a clean record? A full-time job? English without an accent? A smile that never complains? In this episode of The Lies We Tell , I take you on a deep, personal, and political dive into one of the most dangerous myths in American life: the myth of the good immigrant . We’ll trace the origins of this narrative—from Ellis Island to the modern border, from sitcoms...

This week on Off the Record , we dive into the real stories behind the headlines — and the ones they’re trying to bury. From the Islamophobic attacks launched at New York City’s rising progressive star to the Supreme Court gutting civil rights protections, this episode exposes the growing playbook of fear and distraction being used across the country. We also unpack Ryan Walters' latest crusad...

What if the enemy was never who they said it was? In this third installment of The American War Machine series, we unpacks how the United States systematically creates, recycles, and weaponizes enemies to keep the war machine running. From Cold War fear-mongering to post-9/11 Islamophobia, from the media's role in propaganda to the racial coding of domestic threats—this episode breaks down how...

They say public schools are failing — and teachers are to blame. But that’s a lie, and it’s one that’s being weaponized. In this episode, we break down how politicians are deliberately destroying public education by underpaying teachers, overloading classrooms, and flooding schools with culture-war legislation designed to silence and scare educators out of the profession. From crumbling buildings...

A week of political hypocrisy: ICE raids, protest crackdowns, and veterans thrown to the curb.

Behind every war is a check with someone’s name on it. In Episode 2 of The American War Machine , we follow the money — exposing how war in the United States isn’t about freedom, democracy, or national security… it’s about profit . We break down how defense giants like Raytheon and Lockheed Martin sell war like a product launch. How private military contractors like Blackwater committed war crimes...

She had 80 names. Drove a Cadillac. Lived off your tax dollars. At least, that’s the story Ronald Reagan told in 1976.But the “welfare queen” wasn’t a real person. She was a myth — built on racism, misogyny, and political strategy. In this episode of The Lies We Tell, we expose the truth behind one of the most damaging lies in American politics. From the Reverse Freedom Rides to Reagan’s speeches,...

They say it’s “heritage, not hate.” But let’s be real—Southern pride was never about tradition. It was about treason. About preserving slavery. About rewriting history so white supremacy could survive under a new name. In this episode of The Lies We Tell , I break down the dangerous mythology behind the Confederate legacy—from the Lost Cause lie, to textbook censorship, to Confederate flags flying...

June 14, 2025 — No Kings Day. Across the country, Americans took to the streets in a powerful show of unity and resistance. But as hope marched forward, horror wasn’t far behind. In this Off the Record episode, I unpack the full picture: The strength of the No Kings Day protests — and why it still might not be enough The targeted political assassinations in Minnesota that left a state lawmaker and...

The Problem With... The American War Machine (Part 1 of 4) Before the first bombs drop, the war begins — in silence. With Bibles. With flags. With budgets nobody reads and histories nobody teaches. In this opening chapter of our 4-part deep-dive, we expose how America was never meant to be a peaceful nation — but a nation designed for permanent war. From missionaries in Hawaii to drone strikes in...