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Strange People on the Hill: An Interview with Michael Edison Hayden Apr 01, 2026

Show notes

Molly interviews Michael Edison Hayden about his new book, Strange People on the Hill: How Extremism Tore Apart a Small Town. The book is an intimate portrait of what happened in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia after a white nationalist group moved into the castle on the hill.
Preorder the book now or buy it anywhere books are sold when it comes out on April 7, 2026

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/michael-edison-hayden/strange-people-on-the-hill/9781645030607/

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Talking to Venezuelans About Venezuela Mar 31, 2026

Show notes

James talks to Marian about how the left discourse about the US kidnapping of Maduro has silenced Venezuelan leftists and how the anti Maduro Venezuelan left is navigating the US intervention.

https://www.instagram.com/e.m.arian

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The Trans Panic Clickbait Economy Mar 30, 2026

Show notes

Garrison investigates a series of frightening claims: that ICE can detain people for ‘looking trans,’ the creation of a transgender public registry, and that an adult gender-affirming healthcare ban is imminent.

Sources:

https://transitics.substack.com/p/trump-administration-opens-the-door

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/11/2026-04737/visas-enhancing-vetting-and-combatting-fraud-in-the-diversity-immigrant-visa-program

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/

https://rachelnorfolk.me/sites/default/files/2025-02/25_State_11402.pdf
https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/policy-manual-updates/20250402-RecognizingMaleAndFemaleSexes.pdf

https://iptp-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/documents/2025.2.24_DOS_Guidance_for_Visa_Adjudicators_EO_14201_22Keeping_Men_Out_of_Wom_VhPai1S.pdf

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/administrative-processing-information.html

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:8%20section:1182%20edition:prelim)%20OR%20(granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1182)&f=treesort&num=0&edition=prelim

https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM030209.html

https://bsky.app/profile/progesteronipizza.bsky.social/post/3m5w6wnkyhc2u

https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/25a169_5h25.pdf

https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/transgender-kansans-challenge-state-law-invalidating-their-drivers-licenses-and-allowing-them-to-be-sued-for-using-public-restrooms

https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/documents/sb244_03_0000.pdf

https://www.tiktok.com/@transitics/video/7616520936925285662

https://bsky.app/profile/firestorm.coop/post/3mgwxdih3x222

https://www.tiktok.com/@e_c_lider/video/7616688370462231830

https://www.vera.org/news/ice-is-excluding-data-on-transgender-people-in-detention

https://www.them.us/story/alice-correia-barbosa-ice-arrest-brazil-trans

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/18/trump-mexico-deportation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deportations_of_U.S._citizens_in_the_second_Trump_administration#

https://www.congress.gov/119/meeting/house/118180/documents/HMKP-119-JU00-20250430-SD003.pdf

https://19thnews.org/2025/12/trump-administration-plans-to-end-prison-rape-protections-for-trans-and-intersex-people-memo-says/

https://theneedlenews.com/2026/03/anti-trans-hate-groups-petitioning-fda-for-registry-of-trans-women-crackdown-on-transition-newly-revealed-document-shows/

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/27871234-fda-2025-p-7321-0001-attachment-public-fda/?ref=theneedlenews.com

https://bsky.app/profile/angelic.style/post/3mgv3hjepvs2p

https://bsky.app/profile/tinylesbianrobot.itch.io/post/3mgvbihtidu2m

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4865109/#:~:text=Only%20346%20(18%25)%20of,Risk%20Evaluation%20and%20Mitigation%20Strategy

https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/03/19/tennessee-gop-advances-bill-that-would-create-public-list-of-trans-residents/?utm_content=1773928472&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

https://trackbill.com/bill/tennessee-house-bill-754-an-act-to-amend-tennessee-code-annotated-title-1-title-4-title-33-title-56-title-63-title-68-and-title-71-relative-to-health-care/2644177/

https://x.com/popbase/status/2034737772792041622?s=46

https://transitics.substack.com/p/tennessee-republicans-advance-bill

https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/movaokabwva/USA_HEALTH_TRANSGENDER_WESTVIRGINIA.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/us/rfk-jr-transgender-care-ruling.html

https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/4th-circuit-rules-that-states-can

https://bsky.app/profile/davidforbes.bsky.social/post/3mgv5httwss26

https://glaad.org/new-york-times-sign-on-letter-from-lgtbq-allied-leaders-and-organizations

https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/fbi-readies-new-war-on-trans-people

https://gnet-research.org/2025/07/18/meaning-through-its-opposite-significance-quest-theory-and-nihilistic-violent-extremism/

https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/what-are-nihilist-violent-extremists

https://x.com/ItsYourGov/status/1968802472111083949?s=20

https://oversight-project.revv.co/urge-the-fbi-to-designate-transgender-terrorism

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/designating-antifa-as-a-domestic-terrorist-organization/

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/countering-domestic-terrorism-and-organized-political-violence/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DOykLZJDS2h/

https://www.tiktok.com/@genericartdad/video/7554381061128473886

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CZM Book Club: The Cloud Weaver's Song, by Saul Tanpepper Mar 29, 2026

Show notes

Margaret reads you a story about climate refugees, ancestors, and giant spider robots that weave webs of glass

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It Could Happen Here Weekly 225 Mar 28, 2026

Show notes

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. - Prairieland and Antifa Terrorism - The Scariest Court in America feat. Steven Monacelli & Dr. Michael Phillips - Israel’s Attack on Lebanon - Shadow Banking: The Once and Future Economic Apocalypse - Executive Disorder: ICE at Airports, New DHS Secretary, Iran Negotiations You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today! http://apple.co/coolerzone Sources/Links: Prairieland and Antifa Terrorism https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.410488/gov.uscourts.txnd.410488.367.0.pdf https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.410488/gov.uscourts.txnd.410488.366.0.pdf https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/antifa-cell-members-convicted-prairieland-ice-detention-center-shooting https://www.nacdl.org/getattachment/f536e696-072c-4982-bc47-d2dc7f42f766/gov-uscourts-txnd-411041-89-0_1.pdf https://prairielanddefendants.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Superseding-Indictment-2.pdf https://www.keranews.org/criminal-justice/2026-03-03/prairieland-ice-detention-center-shooting-trial-defendants-self-defense-third-party-defense-theory-judge-mark-pittman https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-3rd-federal-trial-day-7/ https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-6th-federal-trial-day-10/ https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-10-federal-trial-day-12/ https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-10-federal-trial-day-12/#kyle-shideler-prosecutions-antifa-expert-redirect https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/february-26-federal-trial-day-5/ https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/february-27th-federal-trial-day-6/ https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-9th-federal-trial-day-11/ https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R41333 https://www.keranews.org/criminal-justice/2026-03-10/dario-sanchez-prairieland-ice-shooting The Scariest Court in America feat. Steven Monacelli & Dr. Michael Phillips Jack Bass, “John Minor Wisdom, Appeals Court Judge Who Helped to End Segregation, Dies at 93,” New York Times, May 16, 1999,https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/16/us/john-minor-wisdom-appeals-court-judge-who-helped-to-end-segregation-dies.html Jonathan Entin, “The Surprising History of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals,” Governing, January 23, 2024, https://www.governing.com/policy/the-surprising-history-of-the-5th-circuit-court-of-appeals. Eleanor Klibanoff, “Again and again, U.S. Supreme Court slaps down 5th Circuit,” The Texas Tribune, July 3, 2024, https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/supreme-court-5th-circuit-court-rulings-texas-overturned/ Mattathias Schwartz, “This Federal Judge Is the ‘Tip of the Spear’ of Trump-Era Conservatism,” New York Times, August 9, 2025,https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/us/judge-ho-trump-border.html Israel’s Attack on Lebanon Lebanese news source Megaphone news – https://megaphone.news Elia at +972mag - https://www.972mag.com/israels-renewed-war-on-lebanon-is-about-more-than-just-hezbollah/ Death toll and displacement numbers in Lebanon - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/22/hezbollah-attack-kills-one-in-north-israel-as-assault-on-lebanon-continues Nathan Brown on “Israel’s Forever Wars” - https://carnegieendowment.org/middle-east/diwan/2026/03/dominance-degradation-and-debilitation Land for peace concept - https://archive.unescwa.org/land-peace-principle Foundation for Defense of Democracy on “Peace for Land” - https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/01/23/peace-for-land-not-land-for-peace/ The book Beware of Small States - https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/david-hirst/beware-of-small-states/9780786744411/?lens=bold-type-books The Fire These Times podcast - https://thefirethesetimes.com/ Shadow Banking: The Once and Future Economic Apocalypse https://www.fsb.org/work-of-the-fsb/financial-innovation-and-structural-change/non-bank-financial-intermediation/ https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/11/shadow-banking-is-now-a-52-trillion-industry-and-posing-risks.html https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7992100/ https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2013/06/basics.htm https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/inside-the-cdo-market-that-catalyzed-the-financial-crisis https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48512#ifn146 https://www.jstor.org/stable/26153238 https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/economists/adrian/1306adri_map.pdf https://tellerwindow.newyorkfed.org/2025/10/17/nbfis-in-focus-the-basics-of-private-credit/ https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/bank-lending-to-private-credit-size-characteristics-and-financial-stability-implications-20250523.html https://libcom.org/article/debt-first-5000-years-david-graeber Executive Disorder: ICE at Airports, New DHS Secretary, Iran Negotiations https://x.com/Holden_Culotta/status/2034419794099777620?s=20 https://www.semafor.com/article/03/18/2026/fbi-investigates-national-security-aide-who-resigned-over-war https://abcnews.com/Politics/pentagon-plans-national-guard-dc-2029-2-us/story?id=131234530 https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/openai-shutting-down-sora-ai-video-app-1236546187/ https://x.com/cspan/status/2036514340896121179?s=20 https://x.com/atrupar/status/2036105325326016658?s=20 https://x.com/atrupar/status/2036083777164775452 https://x.com/atrupar/status/2036253584090685709?s=20 https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/5799345-ice-deployment-tsa-criticism/ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/us/tsa-data-ice-deportation-san-francisco-airport.html https://punchbowl.news/archive/32326-am/ https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116275668825285445 https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2036511652275703864?s=20 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/us/gregory-bovino-border-patrol.html https://x.com/atrupar/status/2031414203920077123 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Fh_K2gxDA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fW9E2zneDg https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/18/politics/mullin-confirmation-hearing-senate-paul-dhs https://x.com/atrupar/status/2036510924173963558?s=20 https://archive.ph/SmBos https://archive.vn/Xg3zP#selection-717.162-717.174 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/25/iran-war-us-trump.html https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/23/trump-iran-war-power-plants-energy-infrastructure-middle-east.html https://time.com/article/2026/03/25/trump-peace-proposal-us-iran-war-israel-pakistan/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indias-reliance-buys-5-million-barrels-iranian-oil-after-us-waiver-sources-say-2026-03-24/ https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1450zj6n48o https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrzr9ynpn1o https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/23/oil-prices-trump-iran-strait-of-hormuz-wti-crude-middle-east-lng-gas.html https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-gets-daily-video-montage-briefing-iran-war-rcna263912 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thai-tanker-strait-hormuz-iran-6015671See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Full show notes at the publisher

Executive Disorder: ICE at Airports, New DHS Secretary, Iran Negotiations Mar 27, 2026

Show notes

The gang discuss Trump’s deployment of ICE to more than a dozen airports, OpenAI shutting down its AI generated video app, continuing negotiations with Iran to end the war, and DHS Sec Mullin’s comments during confirmation hearings.

Sources:

https://x.com/Holden_Culotta/status/2034419794099777620?s=20

https://www.semafor.com/article/03/18/2026/fbi-investigates-national-security-aide-who-resigned-over-war

https://abcnews.com/Politics/pentagon-plans-national-guard-dc-2029-2-us/story?id=131234530

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/openai-shutting-down-sora-ai-video-app-1236546187/

https://x.com/cspan/status/2036514340896121179?s=20

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2036105325326016658?s=20

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2036083777164775452

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2036253584090685709?s=20

https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/5799345-ice-deployment-tsa-criticism/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/us/tsa-data-ice-deportation-san-francisco-airport.html

https://punchbowl.news/archive/32326-am/

https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116275668825285445

https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/2036511652275703864?s=20

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/us/gregory-bovino-border-patrol.html

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2031414203920077123

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Fh_K2gxDA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fW9E2zneDg

https://www.cnn.com/2026/03/18/politics/mullin-confirmation-hearing-senate-paul-dhs

https://x.com/atrupar/status/2036510924173963558?s=20

https://archive.ph/SmBos

https://archive.vn/Xg3zP#selection-717.162-717.174

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/25/iran-war-us-trump.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/23/trump-iran-war-power-plants-energy-infrastructure-middle-east.html

https://time.com/article/2026/03/25/trump-peace-proposal-us-iran-war-israel-pakistan/

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/indias-reliance-buys-5-million-barrels-iranian-oil-after-us-waiver-sources-say-2026-03-24/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1450zj6n48o

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrzr9ynpn1o

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/23/oil-prices-trump-iran-strait-of-hormuz-wti-crude-middle-east-lng-gas.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-gets-daily-video-montage-briefing-iran-war-rcna263912

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/thai-tanker-strait-hormuz-iran-6015671

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Shadow Banking: The Once and Future Economic Apocalypse Mar 26, 2026

Show notes

Mia teaches Molly what shadow banking is, how it caused the 2008 financial collapse, and how they’re threatening to do it all again

Sources:

https://www.fsb.org/work-of-the-fsb/financial-innovation-and-structural-change/non-bank-financial-intermediation/

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/11/shadow-banking-is-now-a-52-trillion-industry-and-posing-risks.html

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7992100/

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2013/06/basics.htm

https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/inside-the-cdo-market-that-catalyzed-the-financial-crisis

https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48512#ifn146

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26153238

https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/economists/adrian/1306adri_map.pdf

https://tellerwindow.newyorkfed.org/2025/10/17/nbfis-in-focus-the-basics-of-private-credit/

https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/bank-lending-to-private-credit-size-characteristics-and-financial-stability-implications-20250523.html

https://libcom.org/article/debt-first-5000-years-david-graeber

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Israel’s Attack on Lebanon Mar 25, 2026

Show notes

Dana El Kurd speaks to Elia Ayoub, UK-based Lebanese-Palestinian historian, anti-authoritarian writer, and host of The Fire These Times. They talk about Israel’s attacks on Lebanon in recent weeks, what this means for the Lebanese people, the impact on Hezbollah, and broader implications for the world.

Sources:

Lebanese news source Megaphone news – https://megaphone.news

Elia at +972mag - https://www.972mag.com/israels-renewed-war-on-lebanon-is-about-more-than-just-hezbollah/

Death toll and displacement numbers in Lebanon - https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/3/22/hezbollah-attack-kills-one-in-north-israel-as-assault-on-lebanon-continues

Nathan Brown on “Israel’s Forever Wars” - https://carnegieendowment.org/middle-east/diwan/2026/03/dominance-degradation-and-debilitation

Land for peace concept - https://archive.unescwa.org/land-peace-principle

Foundation for Defense of Democracy on “Peace for Land” - https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2026/01/23/peace-for-land-not-land-for-peace/

The book Beware of Small States - https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/david-hirst/beware-of-small-states/9780786744411/?lens=bold-type-books

The Fire These Times podcast - https://thefirethesetimes.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Scariest Court in America feat. Steven Monacelli & Dr. Michael Phillips Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

During the Civil Rights Era, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans was one of the most liberal courts in the United States. It became an ally of the Civil Rights Movement that knocked down Jim Crow laws across the Deep South. But because of a string of appointments by conservative presidents starting with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, it has transformed into one of the country’s most reactionary judicial bodies, with rulings that banned drag shows, endangered nationwide access to the so-called “abortion pill,” and threatened to give domestic abusers access to handguns. This episode looks at how the Fifth Circuit turned into the scariest court in America -- and in particular the career of one extremist judge, James Ho, who one day might end up on the United States Supreme Court.

Sources:

Jack Bass, “John Minor Wisdom, Appeals Court Judge Who Helped to End Segregation, Dies at 93,” New York Times, May 16, 1999,https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/16/us/john-minor-wisdom-appeals-court-judge-who-helped-to-end-segregation-dies.html

Jonathan Entin, “The Surprising History of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals,” Governing, January 23, 2024, https://www.governing.com/policy/the-surprising-history-of-the-5th-circuit-court-of-appeals.

Eleanor Klibanoff, “Again and again, U.S. Supreme Court slaps down 5th Circuit,” The Texas Tribune, July 3, 2024, https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/supreme-court-5th-circuit-court-rulings-texas-overturned/

Mattathias Schwartz, “This Federal Judge Is the ‘Tip of the Spear’ of Trump-Era Conservatism,” New York Times, August 9, 2025,https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/09/us/judge-ho-trump-border.html

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prairieland and Antifa Terrorism Mar 23, 2026

Show notes

Garrison and Robert discuss a trial stemming from a protest and shooting outside an ICE facility in Prairieland Texas, how the government secured convictions, and the possible precedent this case sets.

Sources:
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.410488/gov.uscourts.txnd.410488.367.0.pdf

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.410488/gov.uscourts.txnd.410488.366.0.pdf

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/antifa-cell-members-convicted-prairieland-ice-detention-center-shooting

https://www.nacdl.org/getattachment/f536e696-072c-4982-bc47-d2dc7f42f766/gov-uscourts-txnd-411041-89-0_1.pdf

https://prairielanddefendants.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Superseding-Indictment-2.pdf

https://www.keranews.org/criminal-justice/2026-03-03/prairieland-ice-detention-center-shooting-trial-defendants-self-defense-third-party-defense-theory-judge-mark-pittman

https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-3rd-federal-trial-day-7/

https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-6th-federal-trial-day-10/

https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-10-federal-trial-day-12/

https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-10-federal-trial-day-12/#kyle-shideler-prosecutions-antifa-expert-redirect

https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/february-26-federal-trial-day-5/

https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/february-27th-federal-trial-day-6/