Gaslit Nation

Latest Episodes:

How to Stand Up to a Bully Jul 05, 2023

Show notes

It's Independence Day! There's no better way to celebrate than standing up to a bully. Whether it's a twice-indicted Russian mafia asset running for president, or his cult of violent white supremacists, there's no shortage of bullies running amok these days. Science journalist and bestselling author David McRaney, author of the books How Minds Change and You Are Now Less Dumb, shares his research on how to handle a situation where the person you're talking to insists on an alternative reality, using that to try to gaslight, intimidate, and, in a word, bully. At Gaslit Nation, one of the questions we often get from our listeners is how to help loved ones lost to a disinformation cult, like QAnon and Trump's Big Lie. From harassing election workers to overwhelming school board meetings to disinformation merchants challenging actual experts to debates ("Debate me, bro!"), the Bannon strategy of flooding the zone with shit has ensnared people, separating families and friends. McRaney shares his surprising insights on how to reach people and provide an empathetic space for them to find their way back. For more on this topic, listen to Gaslit Nation's discussion with cult expert Dr. Janja Lalich, who recommends a slightly approach. Both discussions are essential guides for navigating this time of rampant disinformation and toxic political cults. In our bonus episode, McRaney takes the Gaslit Nation Self-Care Q&A. For our next Gaslit Nation live taping, join Andrea and comedian Kevin Allison of the RISK! Storytelling podcast for a show at Caveat in New York on Saturday August 5th at 4pm to celebrate the launch of the new Gaslit Nation graphic novel Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think! To join in person or virtually, reserve your ticket here! Signed copies of the book can be ordered at the event! To submit your own answers and share inspiration for ways to recharge as we together run a marathon to protect our democracy, leave your answers in the comments section or send an email to GaslitNation@gmail.com. We'll read some of the responses on the show! Gaslit Nation Self-Care Questionnaire

What's a book you think everyone should read and why?
What's a documentary everyone should watch and why?
What's a dramatic film everyone should watch and why?
Who are some historical mentors who inspire you?
What's the best concert you've ever been to?
What are some songs on your playlist for battling the dark forces?
Who or what inspires you to stay engaged and stay in the fight?
What's the best advice you've ever gotten?
What's your favorite place you've ever visited?
What's your favorite work of art and why?

Teaser - Reform the Supreme Court Now! Jul 01, 2023

Show notes

The Supreme Court is a cesspool of corruption with three members appointed by a Russian mafia asset. It's also treated in America like a sacred priesthood above the law, allowing Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito to profit from deep pocketed far-right megadonors. The Fox News majority of the Supreme Court has stripped our country of essential rights, condemning people to die from lack of reproductive healthcare with the overturning of Roe v. Wade; allows businesses to proudly discriminate, furthering a genocidal scapegoating culture that drives the Republican Party and its base; struck down student loan debt forigiveness while corporations benefit from the same types of programs and more; and destroyed Affirmative Action for nonwhite people -- the white and rich like Jared Kushner will continue to buy their way into the Ivy League. These seismic Supreme Court rulings are the bountiful harvest of a far-right long game in America played over decades, as we discussed in our 2022 series Rising Up from the Ashes: Cassandra and Other Experts on Rebuilding Our Democracy. Most notably, historian Nancy Maclean who wrote Democracy in Chains, journalist Anne Nelson who wrote Shadow Network, LGBTQ+ civil rights lawyer Chase Strangio of the ACLU, and Jessica Mason Pieklo and Imani Gandy of the podcast Boom Lawyered described a far-right long game with zero strategy in response from the Democratic Party. That and our first three episodes examining the 2016 election as a crime scene explain how we got here. Now what to do about it. The best strategy we have so far to climb out of this black hole of corruption is to stay engaged locally with local races, local candidates and to call out and help clean up corruption where we live; invest in local media; contribute to mutual aid; and demand immediate and urgent judicial reforms from our elected federal leaders. For that, Senator Edward Markey has reintroduced legislation to expand the Supreme Court, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has introduced legislation for term limits on Supreme Court justices -- both have backing from establishment Democrats and should be fought for by the grassroots. For more on yet another devastating Supreme Court Hunger Games Spring, Elie Mystal, as always, brilliantly sums up what's at stake in his piece on the destruction of affirmative action in The Nation: "The Supreme Court Has Killed Affirmative Action. Mediocre Whites Can Rest Easier." Show Notes: You're invited to a Gaslit Nation night out August 5th in NYC to celebrate the launch of Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think! Details here. REUTERS: Reparations: Where slavery's descendants stand https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-slavery-lawmakers/ REUTERS: Slavery's Descendants The ancestral ties to slaveholding of today's political elite https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-slavery/ 2022 series Rising Up from the Ashes: Cassandra and Other Experts on Rebuilding Our Democracy. https://twitter.com/gaslitnation/status/1513518421090185222?lang=en

Is Russia Headed Towards Collapse? Jun 28, 2023

Show notes

Putin is weak and getting weaker. In this special live taping of Gaslit Nation, Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman, who has a long history of investigating and exposing the Russian mafia state's active measures in the U.S. and Europe, joins Andrea to discuss where things are headed in Russia's escalating power struggle, what it means for Ukraine, and how the world needs to start preparing for a post-Putin Russia.

"Putin is finished," Olga warns in this urgent discussion. Putin may be forced into retirement in a dacha on the outskirts of Russia or "die in his sleep," with Shoigu or another tool of the Russian security forces becoming the new strongman. Prighozin's attempted military coup was the inevitable escalation of growing tensions between warring factions, but as Olga points out, the siloviki–the ruthless, imperialistic, genocidal security forces–are in charge, and always have been, even during the collapse of the Soviet Union. They are the kingmakers, and it's clear that they want Putin gone. Prigozhin served a purpose of striking Putin with a fatal blow, and the months ahead will continue to weaken him as Russia continues to lose an unwinnable war in Ukraine.

Our bonus episode this week includes our extended audience Q&A at our live taping, with a focus on Russia's influence campaigns in U.S. elections. As mentioned in this week's show, there's going to be a special live taping of Gaslit Nation held in New York City at the Lower East Side venue Caveat, hosted by Kevin Allison of the popular and provocative storytelling podcast RISK! on Saturday August 5th at 4pm EST. The discussion will include the making of the brand new Gaslit Nation graphic novel Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think!, and include an opportunity to order signed copies. For tickets to join the event in person or wherever you are by watching the livestream, get your tickets here!

Military Coup Attempt in Russia: What Comes Next? Jun 26, 2023

Show notes

Where is Putin? No one has seen him lately other than a short video of Putin looking uncharacteristically tense addressing the nation, calling out a military coup against him that killed around a dozen Russians in his military. Putin's longtime operative, the Russian warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the private military army Wagner (named after Hitler's favorite composer!) has turned into Putin's Frankenstein monster. When you have an in-house coup guy, expect him to turn his coup skills on you eventually, especially when he, like the rest of the ruthless oligarchs around you, smell blood in the water. Prighozin's coup attempt is the greatest domestic challenge launched against the Kremlin since the fall of the Soviet Union, and the succession fight over who takes over from the increasingly weak Putin is far from over. In this brief summary, Andrea gives some of the highlights of the dramatic events of the weekend, and discusses where the Kremlin succession battle may be headed, and what it means for Ukraine and others caught in the middle. For a deep dive discussion, join our special live taping of Gaslit Nation this coming Tuesday June 27 at 12pm EST with Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman, where we'll discuss whether Russia is headed towards a civil war, if and when Putin might be disposed of, and how his agents are active abroad in their fascist war against the democratic alliance. To get access to that, receive your ticket to the live taping by supporting the show at the Truth-teller level or higher on Patreon, and cancel anytime. A link to the virtual event will be sent to your inbox via Patreon the morning of the event. Thank you to everyone who supports the show -- we could not make Gaslit Nation without you!

Teaser - Hungary as a Warning Jun 23, 2023

Show notes

In this week's Gaslit Nation Bonus Q&A, Sarah answers questions from our listeners, including sharing a personal story about her impressions from her 2017 trip to Hungary as Orban, a hero of the Republican Party, tightened his grip on crushing democracy there. We'll be back with an all new Q&A next week, so if you didn't hear your question answered this week, look out for it next week, as our Q&As continue! To submit your questions, subscribe to the show at the Democracy Defender level or higher on Patreon.com/Gaslit, and to join our live-taping on Tuesday June 27 at 12pm EST with Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman, be sure to subscribe to the show at the Truth-teller level or higher to get access to the virtual show link on the morning of the event.

Thank you to everyone who supports the show! We could not make Gaslit Nation without you!

The Merrick Garland "We Told You So" Special Jun 21, 2023

Show notes

Gaslit Nation has been vindicated, and it sucks to be vindicated about the deadly inertia of a mafia state accomplice! After two years of describing obvious inaction on obvious crimes and being assured by an army of bot-brained propagandists that Merrick Garland is fighting the good fight but Must Keep Silent for Reasons You Will Understand in Time, we have new confirmation that, no, he's just a terrible Attorney General! And that Lisa Monaco, the deputy attorney general, is equally bad! In this episode we discuss the Washington Post expose "FBI resisted opening probe into Trump's role in Jan. 6 for more than a year", dig into the background of Monaco (for more background on Garland, listen to our enormous archive of treasonous complicity), and talk about what Biden should do next.

Happy Pride Month! For the second part of this episode, Andrea interviews Lindz Amer who is back on Gaslit Nation to discuss their new must-read book Rainbow Parenting Your Guide to Raising Queer Kids and Their Allies. From their author bio: "Lindz Amer created Queer Kid Stuff—an award-winning original LGBTQ+ educational webseries for all ages—that has reached millions of families. They perform at libraries, schools, and theaters all over the world spreading queer joy and working on numerous projects that bring queer and trans representation into mainstream children's media. In 2019, they gave a viral TED Talk on the importance of talking to kids about gender and sexuality. They currently write for preschool television and also host the parenting podcast Rainbow Parenting, as well as Activist, You! for kids featuring interviews with youth activists." Check out Rainbow Parenting today!

Our bonus episode is our usual Q&A of questions from Patreon subscribers at the Democracy Defender lever or higher, and is available to listeners at the Truth-Teller lever or higher. If you asked a question and we haven't answered it yet, don't worry – we are getting through the backlog this month. Sarah took a couple weeks off due to a family emergency but is back so we will both have everything answered by the end of June. Next week June 27 12pm EST will be a live-taping of Gaslit Nation featuring Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman. To sign up for that, support the show at the Truth-teller level or higher to receive a link to join the virtual event on the morning of the show! Thank you for your support of Gaslit Nation!

Show Notes:

FBI resisted opening probe into Trump's role in Jan. 6 for more than a year https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/06/19/fbi-resisted-opening-probe-into-trumps-role-jan-6-more-than-year/

Susan Rice reportedly told the White House cyber team to 'knock it off' when they floated options to combat Russian meddling https://www.businessinsider.com/susan-rice-told-white-house-cyber-team-to-knock-it-off-on-combatting-russian-meddling-2018-3

Trump's Little Moscow: "63 Russians spent $98.4 million buying condos in Trump-branded luxury towers in Sunny Isles. Another 703 units in the seven Trump buildings had been purchased by limited liability companies, LLCs, that mask the owners' identities." https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2019/10/18/six-trump-towers-later-kitschy-sunny-isles-becomes-moscow-by-the-sea-fred-grimm/

Russia Sought to Kill Defector in Florida https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/19/us/politics/russia-spy-assassination.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20230619&instance_id=95515&nl=from-the-times&regi_id=48614702&segment_id=136134&te=1&user_id=097a378032011d6e8be1570cdce0a176

Teaser - Trump Arrest Super Special Jun 16, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to another Gaslit Nation Greatest Hits! We remind you once again that Trump is a traitor to our country who built his Trump Family Ponzi scheme of a House of Cards with the help of Russian blood money, as the Idiot Sons Don Jr. and Eric have admitted. Which foreign adversaries profited off of Trump's stolen documents and when will Jared and Ivanka be investigated and indicted for their roles in obstruction justice, given that they ran the pardon operation that saw the Kremlin Klown Kar (Manafort, Bannon, Flynn) all pardoned? Giulani was allegedly selling pardons with Trump for $2 million each -- did Jared and Ivanka profit from that operation as well? The answer is likely yes! This is an excerpt of this week's bonus episode for Patreon subscribers at the Truth-teller level and higher. To listen to this and all bonus episodes, sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit. Gaslit Nation will be back with a new bonus episode next week answering questions from our listeners at the Democracy Defender level and higher. Thank you to everyone who supports the show. We could not make Gaslit Nation without you!

Trump's Arrest, Kissinger's War Crimes, and The Long Hunt for Justice Jun 14, 2023

Show notes

Gaslit Nation comes full circle! Our new graphic novel Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think! was released today, on the same day longtime Russian mafia asset Donald Trump was finally arrested on federal charges of espionage. The A.I. overlords writing the simulation we're all stuck in certainly have a festive spirit! If you haven't had a chance to pick up a copy, including for a young person in your life, check out this endorsement for the book and the show from historian Timothy Snyder, the New York Times bestselling author of On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century: "Everyone who wants to grow up in a healthy democracy should know about Gaslit Nation." We agree! Which brings us to this week's big news. We're going to record a Trump Federal Arrest Super Special, out Friday, featuring Sarah back on the show to share her insights and predictions on what's next as the Trump criminal circus plays out heading into 2024. Today's episode puts on trial celebrated war criminal Henry Kissinger, a villain of history who kept popping up like a Where's Waldo? in our research for Dictatorship: It's Easier Than You Think! To walk us through some of his latest reporting unearthing the horrors Kissinger committed, investigative journalist Nick Turse stops by Gaslit Nation. Terse is a contributing writer for The Intercept, covering national security and foreign policy, and the author of the books Next Time They'll Come to Count the Dead: War and Survival in South Sudan; Tomorrow's Battlefield: U.S. Proxy Wars and Secret Ops in Africa; and Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam. He is also the managing editor of TomDispatch.com. This week's bonus episode, available to subscribers at the Truth-teller level and higher on Patreon, will be the full episode of our Trump Federal Indictment Super Special, which we'll share a free excerpt of wherever you get your podcasts. If you're not already a part of our community of listeners, be sure to sign up at the Truth-teller level or higher to get access to the live taping of Gaslit Nation on June 27 at 12pm EST featuring Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman answering your questions about the Trump indictments, the Russian elites civil war, Russian spy networks in the West, and more! The show link will be sent straight to your inbox on the morning of the event for Patreon supporters at the Truth-teller level or higher so be sure to subscribe today to support the Gaslit Nation! Thank you to everyone supporting independent journalism, especially in these uncertain times! We could not make the show without you!

Teaser - Trump's First Federal Indictment! Jun 09, 2023

Show notes

This was recorded Thursday June 8 to react to the toxic smoke and what it means for our civilization. It also includes a discussion of the anticipated federal Trump indictment before the big news broke late Thursday. There will be more on that in next week's episode!

Did you celebrate the long awaited federal indictment of Trump? That's perfectly fine to do, even if history has shown Trump has gotten away with decades of corruption, and our legal system favors the rich. At the very least, Trump may be knocked out of the presidential race with the help of the indictments, and they're reportedly throwing him into a rage. But the long term outlook requires caution. That, Tucker Carlson's dark Twitter video, George Santos' bail woes, how to help a loved one sucked into a cult, and more are discussed in this week's bonus episode for our listeners subscribed at the Truth-teller level and higher on Patreon.

To join our community and submit questions to our regular Q&As, sign up and support the show at Patreon.com/Gaslit!

The Marie Yovanovitch Interview Jun 07, 2023

Show notes

This week's special episode opens with a news round-up, asking once again–who paid $500,000 to bail George Santos out of jail, and what do they expect in return? Nikki Halely's genocidal hate speech against trans people gets fact-checked. (Halely is reportedly the Kushner's horse in the race in their attempt at a comeback.) Mike Pence formally announced he's running for president, presenting an opportunity on the debate stage to talk about that time Trump's violent mob chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!"

At the top of the show, there's a special highlight of Russia's explosion of a dam in the southern Ukraine region of Kherson, flooding the homes of thousands of people as well as drowning a zoo. To explain the stakes for Ukraine and the world in its existential struggle against Russia's genocidal invasion, Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch drops by Gaslit Nation. Ambassador Yovanovitch was targeted by the dark web of corruption driven by Trump and Rudy Giuliani. She shares her harrowing story in her inspiring memoir Lessons from the Edge, out now in paperback with a new afterword.

Got questions? We got answers! This week's bonus episode out Friday will provide a deep dive on the news, point to where things are headed, and answer questions from our listeners at the Democracy Defender level and higher. To submit your questions and get access to bonus shows, live events and our full back catalog of bonus episodes, be sure to subscribe to Gaslit Nation on Patreon! We'll be back with a live taping of Gaslit Nation on Tuesday June 27 at 12pm EST with Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman. If you're signed up at the Truth-teller level or higher, look out for a link sent to your inbox the morning of the event on how to join. We look forward to seeing you there and invite you to drop your questions in the chat!

Show Notes:

Opening clip of George Santos: https://twitter.com/mkraju/status/1666151233780871168
Listen: Trump tells associates to 'get rid of' U.S. ambassador to Ukraine https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/25/trump-yovanovitch-video/
Yovanovitch: Any Concerns With Alexandra Chalupa 'Would Have Been Handled Here' | NBC News https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxeo57ZXXWg
US life expectancy problem is 'bigger than we ever thought,' report finds https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/06/02/us-life-expectancy/70272442007/
Nikki Haley Blames Trans Visibility for Teen Girls' Suicide Ideation https://www.advocate.com/politics/nikki-haley-dylan-mulvaney
Former counsel to Mike Pence testifies at Jan. 6 committee hearing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0nF9x7XaNY
The Russian invasion of Russia continues: https://twitter.com/anneapplebaum/status/1665446051564617730
Ukraine far-right expert Anton Shekhovtsov's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/anton.shekhovtsov
Putin deep fake video: https://twitter.com/mjluxmoore/status/1665704948187668488
Tara Reade Exiles Herself to Russia https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv/status/1664083722902052865

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