Thursday, August 13, 2026 Today, mixed results in the August 11th primary elections hand wins to both progressive and establishment Dems as some Trump-backed candidates falter; Jeanine Pirro has convened a special grand jury in DC; the Trump administration is set to spend nearly a billion dollars on the Emotional Support Ballroom; ICE plans to buy gloves for agents that deliver electric shocks; the Kennedy Center has been ordered to pay $250,000 in legal fees to an artist that opposed the name change; plus Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
Thursday, August 13, 2026
Today, mixed results in the August 11th primary elections hand wins to both progressive and establishment Dems as some Trump-backed candidates falter; Jeanine Pirro has convened a special grand jury in DC; the Trump administration is set to spend nearly a billion dollars on the Emotional Support Ballroom; ICE plans to buy gloves for agents that deliver electric shocks; the Kennedy Center has been ordered to pay $250,000 in legal fees to an artist that opposed the name change; plus Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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msw media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Thursday, August 13, 2026. Today, mixed results in the August 11 primary elections hand wins to both progressive and establishment Democrats as some Trump backed candidates falter. Jeanine Pirro has convened a special grand jury in Washington, D.C. the Trump administration is set to spend nearly a billion dollars on the emotional support. Ballroom ICE plans to buy gloves for agents that deliver electric shocks. And the Kennedy center has been ordered to pay $250,000 in legal fees to an artist that opposed the name change. I'm Alison Gill.
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
Hey, Dana. Happy Thursday. How are you, my friend?
I, am, good. Back on the west coast, back on the best coast. I love New York. I'm just kidding. I don't know. They're both pretty great.
They are both actually really wonderful. As is the middle of the country, too. Everything's great, but it is sometimes nice to be back in the 800 million degree heat over here on the West Coast.
Listen, the east coast has also been 800 million with 90% humidity, so at least it's dry. But then again, that that poses danger. So it feels like you can't win.
But climate change is a hoax, right?
Oh, totally.
Totally. We have a special guest today, Demetri McCain. She's the director of policy at Legal Defense Fund. So she leads the organization's policy team and its diverse policy advocacy portfolio. And she works with senior leadership to set the strategic direction for the organization's legislative policy and advocacy work. So criminal justice, economic justice, education, political participation, voting rights, things like that. She was, high up at HUD in the Biden administration. So that's who we're gonna talk to today. And, later today, also look out for the new episode of Diamond Dames.
Yes.
Which is Charlotte and I talking about the latest episode of Ted Lasso. Because we could all use a little break from the news. That's over on the MSW Media Media YouTube channel.
And a big thing. Well, I think it's a big thing. Trump said today, Press Secretary Caroline Levitt is done. She wants to spend more time with her grandfather. I'm sorry, her husband and her child. And, I am a little bit worried, to be honest with you. I didn't know anyone out there could possibly be a better liar than Caroline Levitt. But I have a feeling the Trump administration is going to prove me wrong. Let's see who they put in that position. It's going to be very interesting.
Yeah. Who are they gonna put up there? Probably not Steve Chung. Because while he's a spokesperson, I don't think he does well on camera. Like speaking to people with his mouth. but who knows?
Could you imagine if it's like Stephen Miller or some shit? I mean, he's not technically. He doesn't technically have a real part in this administration other than he's actually the president.
Well, he is a White House advisor.
Oh, right, right.
Pretty much running dhs, but not really.
I wonder. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I can't think of. Honestly, I can't think of anyone else that would, and I hate to say, like her, not when I say she's good at her job. She's good at the job Trump needs her to do. I don't think they're going to find someone as good as hell.
Maybe he'll pull Pyrro out of D.C. and put her up there. Or maybe I thought about it. But now he'll hag Seth out and, you know, from the catering truck, low t, Peter? I don't know. I have no idea neither.
We shall see.
Pam Bondi.
Oh, my God.
Elena Haba.
Elena Haba could actually be a possibility.
Yeah, I mean, the secret name secretaries in the title. So because Trump is such a sexist, I imagine he'll try to make it a woman, because women are secretaries. You know, I think that's just how his brain works.
Probably.
Who knows? We will see what happens. But, yeah, she's gone. Bye.
Bye. I'm happy not to. Although I am going to miss making video stitches off of her.
Oh, I'm sure the next person will be just as much A, comedy vault of amazing things that you can stitch. All right, we had a, big primary yesterday. It's, ah, two days ago as you're listening to this on Thursday because of the beauty of podcast time travel. But let's cover those primaries with some quick hits. And to make a long story short. All right. Voters in half a dozen states went to the polls Tuesday. Today, the results highlight the ongoing conflicts with both parties ahead of the November midterms. NPR reports. Democratic primaries in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Connecticut signaled what the party's base may want from new leaders. A harder line against Trump's immigration crackdown and younger, more progressive nominees. As a 14 term Congressman was actually swept aside by a candidate who's 47 years old. Now on that was Connecticut, I believe. On the Republican side, the night tested how far Trump's endorsement still carries even with his approval at a second term low, and the answer was mixed. His endorsements won in some states and stumbled in others.
Yeah. In South Carolina, the Trump endorsed Senator. Ah, because she's now in for Lindsey Darlene Graham, whose last name was not Graham up until recently. I mean, it was originally, but that, you know what I'm talking about. she is advanced to a special Republican primary runoff election for the U.S. senate despite competing with several GOP heavyweights in a crowded race. That's according to a race call by the Associated Press. Graham will now face Rep. Ralph Norman in the Aug. 25 special primary runoff. Norman, who also advanced Tuesday, is a member of the House Freedom Caucus and had endorsements by GOP Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Rick Scott of Florida.
Oh, a couple of real amazing dudes.
Absolute winners.
Now in Wisconsin, a swing state, as we know, Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who voted against certifying the 2020 election results back in January of 20 and denied the 2020 presidential election. He won his party's nomination by a landslide in a race called by the Associated Press Tuesday night. Tiffany had Trump's endorsement and a united Republican backing. Rhett Marquez, an, Alabama state representative endorsed by Trump, also clinched the Republican nomination for the congressional district that runs from Mobile county through the southern Black Belt to the Georgia border. But in Minnesota, Trump endorsed the pillow man, Mike Lindell, a staunch Trump ally and the founder of MyPillow, who could be illeg trouble for bribing voters with pillows, which is, as we know, MyPillow is a pillows and bedding accessories company, or it was before it declared bankruptcy. He endorsed him for the Republican gubernatorial primary, but he lost his primary to Lisa demuth, the speaker of the Minnesota House.
Really? He got beat by someone who already has a legislative position. Imagine that.
I know. And he's calling it rigged also. So I guess because he only ran against Republicans. I guess Republicans rig elections, too.
Yeah, I guess so. the competitive Democratic Senate race in Minnesota was being looked at as a litmus test, if you will, deciding if the party has enough spine, they're saying, to effectively oppose Trump's immigration policies and enforcement operations. With lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan's primary win against Rep. Angie Craig Tuesday night, in a race called by the ap, it appears the base wants their party leaders to oppose ICE and Operation Metro Surge, a large scale immigration enforcement operation that was launched by the U.S. department of Homeland Security in December of 2025. As we know, that heavily impacted the Twin Cities and it shaped much of the Senate race. And by the way, Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan is a phenomenal woman. She's going to make a hell of a senator and so is Rep. Angie Craig. But I think this is a really amazing win for the state, to be honest with you. And it's wild that I don't think they have had a Native American senator in 250 years or something. Insane. M. Yeah, it's wild. Now, while campaigning, Flanagan brought up a vote Craig made in Congress for a Trump backed immigration policy, the Lake and Riley act, which expands the scope of who can be arrested, detained and deported by federal immigration officers. It passed, by the way, with bipartisan support. In 2025, Flanagan will be up against Republican former sports broadcaster Michelle Tafoya, who beat out retired Navy SEAL Adam Schwarz and, and, and thank goodness, ex NBA player Royce White in a race call by the Associated Press. Royce White was that dipshit that was going to, he's like, I'm transgender today because it's good for my basketball career. I'm going to throw myself in for the WNBA draft.
Yeah, well, he didn't score any points in the NBA and he hasn't won an election either, so.
No. So there you go, loser.
and in Wisconsin for weeks, Francesca Hong, 37 year old chef, state lawmaker and Democratic socialist, had been leading into polls against DAV Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive and the more mainstream candidate in a state that is purple in presidential elections. But after being locked in a tight race on Tuesday night, Crowley was declared the winner in a call made by the Associated Press that was early Wednesday. The tight race, despite Hong's controversial track record of statements, which included canceling Thanksgiving and a lack of endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders, signaled the Democratic base might be looking for changes. Hong's high energy grassroots campaign had been fueled by progressives who are drawn to her unusual background and left wing politics. I'm not sure what's that unusual about it, but she backed Medicare for All universal childcare and called for a moratorium on data centers, which is a key issue for midterm voters now. Crowley left his campaign in July only to jump back in days later, this time carrying the endorsement of outgoing governor Tony Evers. The reversal was a final push to channel the departing governor's popularity toward a more moderate contender. And Tuesday night, Crowley said that he and Francesca Hong are going to campaign together on a unity tour. And Francesca Hong said something, along the same line. So it's time to unite.
All right. We will see what happens. I know that was a little bit of an upset there for a lot of people, but moving forward. So close. It was so close.
Like that's Half a point.
Yeah, it was wild. And we're going to Connecticut. Democratic Rep. John Larson, who happens to be 78, conceded Tuesday night, leading Luke Bronin, who is 47, the former Hartford mayor and a former Navy intelligence officer, to win the Democratic primary for 1st congressional district. Bronin was endorsed by the party and his win is yet another sign of Democratic voters, their calls for generational change in the party and their willingness to move on from longtime incumbents. Earlier this year, NPR reported that this cycle more than 80 Gen Z and millennial candidates will be running to challenge or succeed House democrats who are 65 and older, according to a report by the Democratic Fundraising Platform Oath. Now this is a big increase from the 24 under 50 Democratic candidates who took on older incumbents last cycle.
Wow.
80.
It was 24 before. And Amanda Janue narrowly won Vermont's Democratic primary for governor Tuesday, according to the ap, after a campaign that called for sweeping progressive policy changes and, limiting how much the state relies on federal funding. Janu, an economist, had never run for office before. She was virtually unknown before announcing her campaign and she beat out Allie Richards, the former head of a prominent childcare lobbying and advocacy group, who also had the backing of a well endowed political action committee, in a victory speech, by
the way, at that campaign, at her campaign's election night watch party in Burlington. Jenu said that when she decided to run for governor, she knew, and I quote, it was going to be a long shot and went on to say we didn't have the establishment for support, our big political kingmakers on our side. That's what she told a crowd of about 250 people. But we had something so much more powerful. We had you.
Congrats to Janue and all the other people who won. And it's, you know, primaries are when we vote our hearts and then we all rally behind the Democrat because I can't think of another way to keep a Republican out of office besides voting for the Democrat.
That's basically it.
as soon as someone comes up with that way, please let me know because people have long been asking like, what else can we do? What else could we do?
Nope, that is it.
I think that's it. I think that's it. 20 more people should vote in the primaries. And it was a pretty massive turnout in some of these states on the Democratic side way outmatched their Republican counterparts just in the number of people who turned out.
That's really nice to know. Yeah.
All right, we've got more news to get to Everybody. So, we're going to take a quick break, and then we'll be back with the hot notes after these messages.
We'll be right back.
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so fucking disgusted by this.
ICE plans to spend up to $20 million to purchase thousands of conductive distraction and de escalation devices for officers and agents by March. And that's according to a notice published Monday by dhs. The devices are known as the glove G L O V E, which stands for Generated Low Output Voltage emitter and are manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC of Lexing, Kentucky. If the Compliant Technologies llc, it's.
I'd really love to know who's got stock in that and who owns it. Maybe I'll do a deep dive.
Now, they've been used in recent years by some jails and some police departments. Peter said he believed ice's planned purchase would likely be the largest from the company to date. He said he could envision ICE officers using the gloves to help remove uncooperative subjects from cars and houses in and out of detention facilities. Quote, for smaller or weaker officers or older officers. I think it has a great advantage because it can produce faster takedowns and shortened confrontations.
He said. This is so fucked up. That's what we need is a bunch of ICE officers with Napoleon complexes running around with electrical gloves.
Yeah. And we've over on the Beans Talk today. We'll have a. We'll show you a video of how these gloves work. Like demonstrations. It's frightening as fuck.
Yeah. This next story is from the Post. The Trump administration plans to spend at least 900 million for construction projects on the White House grounds, a significantly larger price tag than has been previously reported, and one that would be covered primarily by us, taxpayers. That's according to records reviewed by the Washington Post. Instead of securing money directly from Congress, the records show the administration has pieced together funding from other agencies and private donors and directed it to a little known account that typically holds a few million dollars for routine maintenance of the executive mansion.
So the old emotional, support ballroom. 900 million started as 200, then 400, then 600, all going to be privately funded. Now it's 900 and we already know McFarland got those documents from the National Park Service showing that about $323 million was diverted from the national parks over to the ballroom. Basically, yeah. next up from the Post, the Justice Department has convened a special grand jury in Washington, a rare legal body that officials say could pave the way for federal prosecutors in the nation's capital to investigate some of its biggest and most controversial cases. Unlike a regular grand jury, a special grand jury can release a potentially critical report about the subject of an investigation, even if prosecutors don't find enough evidence to bring the person to trial. So what do you think's going on here, Dana? They're going to put together this special grand jury where they investigate enemies of the president so that they can release reports on the investigation, knowing that they probably won't be able to charge these people like Fauci Comey, whoever. I mean, the reflecting pool guy again, Maybe bring in sandwich guy again.
I think it might actually be Fauci. Wouldn't surprise me at all.
Yeah. Now, DC's Special Grand Jury is to be overseen by Steven Vandervelden. That's one of Jeanine Pirro's top allies. That's according to three government officials with the matter who spoke on a condition of anonymity. And Andy McCabe and I are going to go over this special grand jury in more detail on this weekend's Unjustified podcast.
All right, thank you so much. Do have a little bit of better news from the Post. A, ah. Judge has ordered the Kennedy center to pay more than $250,000 to a jazz musician who pulled out of a performance after the venue's board voted to rename the building after Trump. D.C. superior Court Judge Tanya Jones. Bossier on Monday ordered the center to pay $252,000 in legal fees and costs to lawyers for Chuck Red, who for years had played at the center's annual Christmas Eve concert. Good for you, Chuck. Lisa Banks, one of Red's lawyers, called the amount, and I quote, appropriate, as no citizen should have to spend time and money fending off baseless and politically motivated lawsuits filed by the Trump administration last year. Red had been in talks with the venue staff to perform, but declined to sign a contract. He told the center he chose to bow out because of, and I quote, the defiant and illegal name change happening to the Kennedy Center. The Kennedy senator sued in March, alleging Red had breached his contract by withdrawing from the concert.
He wouldn't sign it. He didn't breach shit.
But in June, Jones Bossier tossed the lawsuit, determining that center officials failed to show that they had even made a legally binding agreement with this guy. The Kennedy senator plans to appeal the ruling. Of course they do.
Oh my God. So they sued him because he wouldn't play it at their dumb thing.
That's exactly it.
And he wouldn't sign the contract. So it's not like he signed a contract, agreed to play, and backed out of the contract. And then they sued him. Oh my God. Well, good for him. $252,000 as we got to chip away at this administration bit by bit. And thanks to Chuck Red for taking a little part of that and running with it. all right, we've got good news to get to, along with our interview. Demetri McCain after this break. Stick around. We'll be right back. Hey, so I think a lot of us notice changes in our hair before we are quite ready to admit that they're happening. Maybe, like, the ponytail isn't as thick. maybe there's more hair left over in your brush or in the shower. Maybe the texture and fullness just isn't what it used to be. Stress hormones and age can all impact your hair, which is why One Skin developed OS1 hair. Now, you probably already know One Skin. For their amazing skin care and their longevity research that's behind it. OS1 hair uses that same proprietary OS1 peptide in a daily serum made specifically for your scalp. It works at the root, where hair health begins to nourish the scalp and support hair that looks and feels better before you know it. OneSkin's OS1 peptide has already been extensively studied for cellular aging and skin care. And now they're bringing that same research directly to hair health. After six months, people saw a 43% increase in hair thickness and, a 40% increase in hair density, along with less visible shedding. And after three months, 75% of customers saw visible new. Ha. You can't beat this. A lot of hair treatments can leave your scalp feeling irritated or dry or your hair looks greasy sometimes. And that makes daily use something you might want to quit. Now, some treatments require prescriptions, and they can bring unpleasant side effects. But os1 hair is drug free and water based, so it fits into a regular routine without disrupting everything else you do. Plus, you can easily incorporate it into your current hair treatment with no problem. So, Born from over 10 years of longevity research, OneSkin's OS1 peptide is engineered to support your hair to look visibly full and thicker at any age. And, for a limited time, you can try one skin with 15 off using code Daily Beans@OnSkin.co DailyBeans. That's 15% off at OnSkin Co with code DailyBeans. Now, after your purchase, they're gonna ask where you heard about them. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. You'll be glad you did. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. I'm honored today to be joined by the Director of Policy at Legal Defense Fund. And in this role, our next guest is leading the organization's policy team and its diverse policy advocacy portfolio. This includes working with senior leadership to set the strategic direction for the organization's legislative, policy and advocacy work in all sorts of fields, including criminal justice, economic justice, education, and political participation. Please welcome the Director of Policy at Legal defense fund, Demetria McCain. How are you today?
I'm doing well. Thanks for having me.
I'm really excited to talk to you because first of all, your experience at HUD, I believe it was 20, 21 to 20, really kind of sets the stage for all of the policy that you are now helping shape over at Legal Defense Fund. Can you talk a little bit about your time at HUD and how that kind of threads into what you do now?
Yeah, sure. Happy to do so. Well, I'll say I'll start, actually, regarding ldf. So at ldf, we kind of focus on four different pillars, which includes, political participation, which a lot of people know about us in the voting rights space. But also we focus on education, equity, as well as criminal legal systems, and some call it criminal justice, but also economic justice. And so economic justice covers a whole lot which includes fair housing. So that can include fair housing, employment issues, et cetera, et cetera. So the fair housing piece, which is what I focused on when I was, at HUD under the Biden administration, is a piece of the things that I cover here at ldf. So fair housing was my thing over there under, Secretary Marcia Fudge, which was a great person for, whom to work. And we got as much done as we could in the time that we had. The unraveling of what we did has been, heartbreaking, I gotta say.
Yeah, let's talk about that. Because, you know, I worked for over a decade at the Department of Veterans affairs, and I've seen it unravel. And, you know, I speak on a near daily basis with folks who used to work at the Justice Department or in the FBI and all the things that are sort of coming apart. But I'd really like to get sort of the view from someone who used to be at HUD versus what the Housing and Urban Development situation is like now under Trump. What are some of the main differences you've seen in, you know, the unraveling of the protections here that we're, you know, generally used to seeing?
And this is happening across the board at all agencies, I gotta tell you. So first and foremost, we've got, at hud, we had the Fair Housing office that focuses on enforcement and compliance. And so the Enforcement part we're talking about people who have fair housing issues and complaints. And hud, along with its partners, including local nonprofits, who got funding from the federal government to manage some investigations and fair housing counseling locally in communities, as well as help from local governments or state governments who partnered with the Fair Housing Office to actually investigate cases. And so the investigation enforcement piece is just not happening. It's just not happening. Not only is it not happening at the scale and level that it should, they're kind of cherry picking what cases they do enforce. A perfect example is, they stated publicly that they will not enforce cases where there's disparate impact on certain, protected classes. I think for your listeners it's important for people to know what those protected classes are. I just want to take a step back, to level set. Obviously race is a protected class, but also color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability to the extent that you don't necessarily find, especially nowadays with people being so savvy, intentional discrimination. Sometimes you've got to use a fair housing tool that the Supreme Court says is a tool called disparate impact. You look back and see how what maybe on the face is a neutral looking policy actually is having a very negative disparate impact on people, who are members of certain protected classes. And so they've just outright said we're not going to cover that. As a matter of fact they just recently this week issued supplemental guidance regarding pulling back the regulation as it relates to disparate impact. And that's not unique to the fair housing, to hud. That's also happening in other agencies as well. So if you've got, say, let's say for instance, nobody says when you go to a landlord, hey, looks like you are black. So I think you should live in the back of the apartment complex. Nobody's going to say that, right? But you look around and everybody in the apartment complex who's black is living in one back portion of the complex. There's a disparate impact there. Right? you may be able to find evidence, of intentional discrimination. But many instances nowadays especially we have like AI and digital digital technologies. It's hard to find that intentional, type of discrimination that is huge. I know the fiscal 23 report from HUD showed that they had about 8,000 total complaints of the eight. Usually it was based on disability, those complaints. But race ended up being the second largest, protected class that you would find maybe about 2,100 or so cases involving race based housing discrimination. And I'm sure the numbers are quite lower now because I think they're throwing cases out. Certainly people still can go to court on their own, but that's very expensive and it's hard to find an attorney to represent you. But that's the enforcement part, Allison. The other part I think that I was really proud of when I was there is the compliance piece. And that's what people don't know too much about. And that compliance piece is about how HUD runs its programs. And so the Fair Housing Office was a check on how hud, Programs were running as it related to fair housing, how public housing offices were running programs, how developers who come in and want to build something with HUD money want, to run programs or design buildings, et cetera, et cetera. That compliance piece is so quiet, but it's super important because it affects scores of people. then I'll say lastly, Allison, there's so much I could say lastly, I'll say the piece that we were doing on appraisal discrimination, talk about hidden discrimination. The appraisal discrimination work was significant. There was a multi agency task force that was led by HUD Under Secretary Fudge that was looking at appraisal discrimination, meaning that if you wanted to, let's say, take a loan out on your house, it had to be appraised. But some families found that their homes were being appraised significantly lower than their white neighbors in the same neighborhood. When the appraiser knew that the homeowner was black or Latinx Latino. And so people actually literally whitewashed their homes, meaning they took their pictures down, they took away their hair care products, so that when the appraiser came in, they didn't know that the home was owned by a person who was black or Latino or Hispanic. That work was significant and we were making real strides on that. And I think that's just gone by the wayside right now.
It's just brushed under the rug. And you know, like you say, if we pan back and look at, at some of the other issues that are covered by Legal Defense Fund, including criminal justice, civil rights, voting rights. And you know, you mentioned we see this in other areas other than HUD as well. I think of the Civil Rights Division being completely gutted at the Department of Justice. I have been calling it the Civil Rights Division. They are now in the business of protecting the rights of white people. You know, the long oppressed white people. The.
Allison, that's a great point. I Mean, you think about employment. I mean, you literally had the head of the EEOC under Trump take to social media and invite white males to file discrimination complaints as it relates to employment. Literally, like, that's absolutely unheard of.
Yeah. And that's by the work of Harmeet Dhillon. Then, you know, we can look at the Voting Rights act being completely now gutted by the Supreme Court, and we see the effects of that. And, you know, I mean, we go all the way back to 2013 when they took away that pre, pre clearance. Pre clearance, where if you were in a state with a known history of racial discrimination, voting, you had to clear it with the Department of Justice if you wanted to change your election laws. That was gone 2013. Now they've taken it even a step further with their latest decision. So let's talk about what legal defense fund is focusing with regard to voting rights. What focusing on there?
Well, it's the whole gamut. I mean, we saw even before the Calais decision, I think you were referencing the Calais decision that came out this past term, which our president, Director of Counsel Janee Nelson, argued before the Supreme Court. And people should understand that the Supreme Court made us argue that case twice. It was argued in March 2025, and then it was. Then it was argued in October 2025. And so we kind of knew something was up. Right. Because they called us in twice to argue that case. But even before the Kelly decision came out, now this time last summer, we at LDF were in Texas, a couple of us, because that's when the whole redistricting debacle was taking place in Texas, even before the Cali decision, where there was a mid census redistricting, changes going on. And that clearly was a problem. And at ldf, we want to focus on the fact that this redistricting was racial gerrymandering at that time. And this is before the Kelly case. At that time, they kept arguing, oh, it's just partisan. It's just partisan. It's just partisan. Well, if it was just partisan, why were the four key districts that they focused on? Three were primarily black districts, so to say, and one was a Hispanic Latino district. But it's just partisan. And so we want to make sure that people understand that first and foremost that that along with then we got later got the Cali decision. That was just a debacle. I mean, Kagan's dissent said made Section 2 of the Voting Rights act all but a dead letter. And it's total debacle. And really, they really kind of act as if nothing was based on race. It was just based on partisanship. which is baloney, right? It's baloney. So we are working with, other partners as it relates to, reviving, let's say, voting rights at the statutory level through Congress, looking at many different things, in response to, the Cali case, But we were also looking at revising, I should say, even before the Calais case. So the John Lewis advance voting rights advancement act is critical. Critical. It's been introduced, during this Congress. but we're also looking, like I said, to work on some revisions to that with our partners who are on the hill who care about civil rights and voting rights. But that's just a part of it. obviously, we're going to continue our work in the courts. And let's just say we've got to celebrate the district court level wins. We got to celebrate the wins. So even though supreme court might be handing us, rotten eggs, you might say we've had some wins at the district court level. Issues like mail in voting, mail in ballots, all those kind of things are critical and problematic. So we keep fighting litigation. But it's important to understand that organizing is important. We didn't get the voting rights in 1965 because of people sitting around in court. It came because of people on the street. SNCC leaders, those folks who walked at Edmund Pettus Bridge, those people who got bloodied. It came from organizing. And so we are also aligned with a lot of partners who are organizing to push forward about what we want next. See, it's not good enough to simply go back to what we had before, because if we went back to what we had before, there never would have been any litigation at all. All right? And so we've got to envision what we want next to ensure not just black political power, but to ensure that we have a true multiracial democracy throughout this country. And that's what that's about.
I've been saying we need to add four seats to the Supreme Court so that when we do pass this and sign it, it doesn't get gutted again. That's a conversation for another day.
Yeah, you're joking. But Supreme Court and all court reform is hugely important.
I'm not joking.
hugely important.
I'm dead serious. I am dead serious.
Our black voters on the rise, those folks are, in the community, particularly in the south, we really kind of focus on the south quite a bit. That's where the majority of black people live there in the community, not just during major elections, but throughout the year as it relates to like state level local, elections, school board elections. But right now, of course we're getting ready for the midterms. We want to protect the polls. We want to make sure voters can vote. We want to make sure that people are able to, to exercise that fundamental right. I talked about all these four pillars that we work on. But if we are not able to protect the right to vote, all those other things fall by the wayside because you don't get policies that help the average person adopted or passed.
It's a key to unlocking all the other rights. And I wanted to just briefly ask you before I let you go, about your work on evolving the state election laws. Right. Because we know elections are administered by the states and right now we've got sort of a thing going on with the Supreme Court that's really hard to get around in certain circumstances. But you know, I've noticed lately Wes Moore, in Maryland looking at redistricting, putting redistricting, referendum on the ballot. Abigail Spanberger, extending voting rights to felons, for example. Things that blue states with blue legislatures can do kind of to fight back in the meantime before we can and level the whole playing field again. Is there kind of work that you're doing at the state level?
Oh, I love that question. I love that question. So important. Yes, absolutely. And you say that we know that elections are administered by states. I hope you tell some people here in Washington D.C. that fact. yeah, we're working across our states and country regarding state voting rights acts. So while I said earlier, we're working on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement act, we're simultaneously working with states across the country on state voting rights acts, particularly in the South. You mentioned Maryland. But this year alone we worked in partnership with folks on the ground on state voting rights acts. We got one passed in Maryland, but we also got one passed in 2026. And this is only August in Delaware and New Jersey. So three this year. and ever since the Calais case, more states are clamoring for this. But understand that this work starts way long ago. And even last year, like I said, we have been all around the country, we focus on the south where most black people live. We have introduced it in southern states. In southern states like Texas, like places like Florida and it was being introduced in Mississippi. We've actually created a model state Voting Rights act so that states that are interested can contact us or our other partners because we're Doing this with other national partners and we can show them the model that they can tweak and change as it relates and fits their particular state and circumstances. And so that's huge. And so, you know, people say, oh, it'll never get passed in Texas. Oh, it'll never get passed in Florida. Well, I tell people Project 2025 was not hatched in 2024. Right. And so you start on this work now. Right. To get it into the water and eventually it will pass. And we go back to that piece I m mentioned earlier, which is the organizing because it is people who are clamoring for something fresh, something new, something they can do now while we wait for change at the federal level.
Yeah.
Saying it'll never pass is obeying in advance. If people, when they first started to trying to, you know, introduce legislation that, to overturn the Defense of Marriage act or, you know, to bring marriage equality, did they, did they wait until they had enough votes to start introducing those bills? No, they. And they don't pass until they do. You just gotta keep.
Exactly.
Because that's how you build momentum for stuff. Right. And that's why I think Legal Defense Fund is so important. Can you tell people where to find and follow your work and how they might be able to help as well?
Yeah, absolutely. So we're@naacpldf.org but as it relates to, the upcoming elections, you can just go to LDF Vote to make that easy. And that's where you can find out where you can, volunteer to help with, watching the polls. You can find out how you can sign up, with your own county, within your own state to work the polls. and our Black Voters on the Rise team is there to provide lots of information that people will find on that website regarding your voting rights by state.
Actually such a big thing, especially the poll watching, because the Department of Justice used to send poll watchers to protect the vote. But this time the Department of Justice is sending polls watchers to interfere with the vote. And so when we get volunteers together to go and stand at those polling locations and make sure everything's on the up and up, it's like one of the best things we can do.
Yep. And we also partner with the election protection. That number if people feel they have problems at the polls or problem registering is 866 our vote.
Amazing. 866 our vote. Everybody. Check it out. Thank you so much for spending some time with us today. Really eye opening. And I hope that we can have you back again between now and the midterms to see how things are shaping up.
Thanks so much, Alison. It's great to be here. Appreciate it.
Thank you. Dimitri McCain, everybody. Stick around. We'll be right back with the good news. Hey everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone. Then, good news, everyone. Good news, good news. Okay, please, please. Pretty pleased with sugar on top. Please send in your good news if you've ever thought about it. Like, maybe I'll do it today. Today's the day. Maybe today's the day. Go to DailyBeansPod.com, click on Contact and send in your good news. It can be big or little. It can be from yesterday or when you were a kid. Anything at all. you can even just write in with a shout out to like a loved one or yourself or a non profit or a small business business. You can send your good trouble recommendations or tell us about some awesome good trouble you're seeing happening in your neck of the woods. We would love to hear about it. Maybe give a shout out to a government program that's helped you or a loved one, and you know, anything at all, you can send it to us and all you got to do is attach a photo. You can actually, I think attach two photos, but at least one and it can be your pet or a adoptable pet in your area or a random animal from the Internet. jimothy photos are always welcome. photos of what you're making or creating. We love to see those. There's so many great makers and creators who listen to this show. photos of your garden or your chickens or your goats. or a sunset. or did you see the eclipse? Send in the eclipse. Are you traveling? Send us a travelog. We want to hear about, about all of it. Send it to us dailybeanspod.com click on Contact. First up is your good trouble. Good Trouble today comes from Rachel. Pronouns. She and her. The Interagency autism Coordinating Committee, IACC.hhs.gov has released their strategic plan and it's horrible for people with autism and their loved ones. Instead of doing anything that would help us, the plan focuses on putting people in institutions and finding ways to prevent and cure autism. Which is another way to say they don't want us to exist. That's called eugenics. It also creates ways for the committee to do creative accounting. Just like the rest of the administration, the autism community needs people to comment on the IACC's strategic plan by August 20th. So please take some time to do so if you can. In the show notes. We'll have a link to a video explaining the strategic plan and a link to a, guide on the issues with the plan and how to comment on it. Rachel, thank you so much for that. How awful. I mean, just how awful. Yeah.
All right, next up, Dr. Ramey pronoun. She and her hello, fagioli friends. There we go. She's working on this with you. I wanted to give one of my favorite charities a shout out. It's called Protect Night. Not that's nigh T N I g H t. Protect Night Night. They donate over tens of thousands of Night Night packages each year to homeless children 12 and under who need childhood essentials to have a concrete and predictable source of security and an increased exposure to high quality literacy materials during their time of upheaval. Each Night Night package contains a new security blanket, an age appropriate children's book, and a stuffed animal, all nestled inside of a new canvas tote bag. Project Night Night.org we're gonna have a link in the show notes. If you have forgotten that already, make it easy for you. I don't have any affiliation with them, by the way. I just like them. Pick of Gus, which is Augustus. That's hysterical. Arfur Fonzarelli for paying taxes. It took me a second, but I got there.
Oh, my gosh. Look at this poodle with the teal yolk.
It's a badass poodle.
Augustus R for Fonzarelli. Fantastic.
Hey. Hey. How, you doing?
Next up, from anonymous pronoun. She and her. Good news times 2. Monday of last week, our son got our first granddaughter. Her name is Lula. Tallulah, if you want to be fancy. And my hubby starts work at his new job on Thursday the 13th after being unemployed for over three months. Congratulations, Y'. All. pictures, Lula, of course, and a beautiful owl that flew past early one morning this week. Okay, Tallulah's gorgeous.
Oh, the baby.
Look at that owl on a street sign.
That's gorgeous.
That's like. You remind me of the babe.
What babe?
Babe with the power. Every time I see an owl, I'm like, it's Labyrinth. It's Jareth. He's coming to save me and rescue me.
All right, next up, from Dusty, our dear Dusty lesbian pronoun. She and her. Hello, Allison and Dana. Here's an update from my last submission about Lifeline animal rescue and dazzling the dog she got adopted after her moment of stardom on the Jumbotron at the Braves game.
Hell yeah.
In other news, after spotting my first flock camera near home. I have been finding them everywhere. This, this is frightening. I also find it ironic that tech giants rely on solar power to keep them working. Last night I read that ice goons are getting stun gloves. What's next? Cattle prods? So hooray for dazzling and lifeline and fuck this regime. Photo of Dazzling enclosed also the Obama White House when we had real people in office. Yeah, congrats that day at the White House. And good job. Ah, on the dog.
Yeah. That when they lit it up in the colors, in the pride colors, it was just, Love it. Dusty. Thanks for this. And you're man, you're right. We talked about these shock gloves earlier and it's just like I envision like 60 years in the future, somebody's going to make a black and white film about ice and it's going to include these shock gloves. Right. Just disgusting. Next up, from Erica Pronoun. She and her. After our first day at sea, we docked in Tarragona, Spain. I just learned on this trip that when a ship parks in town for the first time, it's the maiden call, which is the exact opposite of a siren's call. The ship gets a plaque. Today is the Queen Victoria's maiden call in, Tarragona. So they'll get a new plaque up for their trophy wall. My tariff today is a picture of some of those plaques as well as a solar eclipse bouquet in front of the grand staircase this morning. Morning. I hope everything is not on fire over there. well, Erica. Yeah. I highly recommend being offline for 24 plus hours so you don't have to see any news. It's pretty amazing.
I know.
Look at these amazing, maiden plaques. That's so cool.
It's awesome.
A solar eclipse bouquet. There it is. I was like, I wonder what it's going to look like? And there it is.
There you have it.
Makes sense, right?
Next up from Eric, pronouncing him hello, queens of the beans and fellow Leguminati. I'm not sure where to put this on the scale of good news, so I'll let you decide. I want to bring your attention to Tennessee one congressional race and specifically to Democratic candidate Christy Burke. Here's why she's impressed the hell out of a Texan who can't vote for her. I followed Christie as a Christian deconstruction content creator long before she decided to run. She's not a politician, just a concerned citizen who decided to fight back in the best way she knew to how. She just won her primary I m think her race deserves more attention, and I think she'd make a good interview. You can check her out on YouTube, which is otchristy with an I. Everybody. Burke with an e at the end.
At.
vote Christy Burke and I'll let her tell her story. For my podpet tariff, I give you antifa mutt Liz chilling in our favorite spot. See if you can guess. She's a lab. Oh, there we go.
Oh, they told us.
All right, see if you can guess the next words in the story. She's a lab. Melon Comics producers failed to redact.
Oh, let's take them to court. amazing. That's incredible. All right, Christy Burke. I'm definitely gonna check that out. Eric, thank you so much. Look at this sweet dog. Oh, yeah, baby. Definitely some Malinois in there. Look, there's a guitar and a rocking chair and a beer on a table with a footstool and an upside down American flag. Yeah. Amazing. That's Tennessee at its finest. All right, next up from Danny Pronoun, she and her hello, hallowed beans queens. Last Friday, you read a good trouble post. A listener in Washington state Talking about the i638, the Anti Trans girls in sports initiative. As a fellow Washingtonian, I immediately dug into this initiative, and I was truly horrified by what I found. We're not alone. Colorado, Nebraska, and Arizona have similar measures. But i638's three method medical certification requirement with no age floor is by most accounts the most invasive and most explicit version of this idea on any 2026 page ballot. For an initiative claiming to be about fairness, burdening every girl in the state, regardless of age, to an anatomical exam, hormone testing, or genetic testing, plus whatever the costs, out of whose pocket nobody says just so they can play soccer is egregious. Yeah, it would be. A broad mandate slapped on an entire population of girls to address a vanishingly smaller number of participants with no funding, no cost cap, and notably no equivalent burden on boys. If the underlying principle really is students should compete in athletic categories consistent with sex they were assigned at birth, full stop, boys should trigger the same certification requirement as his female counterpart does. But he doesn't. Under this bill, which only restricts participation in one direction away from girls sports, I couldn't help but write about it on my substack to get the word out to my 14,000 subscribers. Drivers no hate in Washington state is going to send the article to their supporters. Full credit where due. I did a, shout out to my favorite beans queens for the inspiration making Good trouble and using our voices against this. Insanity matters. And you two taught me half of my best swear words for the occasion. Thank you for arming us to sing beyond the choir. Oh, and make change.
Nice, Danny.
Well put. So we're going to have a link to the substack here, here. in the show notes, and for my pet tax, I present Rosie the porch chicken. She was being bullied by the other ladies in the coop, so she moved out and started living under our rose bushes. I just picture a chicken with that meme we all see with, Oh, who is it? Ben Affleck smoking a cigarette like, I'm out of here. she went to live under the rose bushes. She's since been promoted to her. Her own porch condo. And every morning, she knocks on the slider and comes in, reminding me that it's breakfast time. Okay, all right.
Oh, my God.
All right, Rosie. I mean, you can guess her breed. I'll be forever impressed by your foul knowledge. She's a blank. Which is a fitting reminder to work hard and spread the word from my kitchen table until we can get past this fuckery. Okay, so it has something to do with being loud, or working hard.
Allison, if you get this, I will. I don't know what I'll give you, but I already un. Redact. Or I took off the little. A friend of mine doesn't like when we say redacted, so I'm trying to stop, because it reminds her of the Epstein files. but I took off the bar. And if you can guess this,
a red clucker.
I should have bet more on that. We don't know chickens. We don't know fowl. it's literally called an Americana.
All right. Americana. Okay. Work hard. Work the word from your kitchen table. Beautiful chicken. And I love that she's just like, fuck this. And she moved into your house. It's pretty great.
I know.
I'm out of here. You bitches. Cluck this. All right, Judy from Kansas. Pronouns she and her. We must start sending this message to our elected officials. When Democrats get any power in government, they need to be confident and bold. Do what needs to be done unapologetically. They must not worry about what Republicans say, because Republicans will lie and complain no matter what Democrats do. Some never. Democrats are asked about the Republicans characterization of them. The response must be that Republicans created this mess. They don't now get to complain about how Democrats clean it up. And for my tariff, I'm including pictures of my grown children. They both participated in Black Lives Matter protests during the pandemic in different cities. And they both made the news. News. I'm so proud to have raised humans who care about other humans.
Oh, incredible. Here's one in Kansas City, Mo. And then there's another one.
Love it.
Amazing. M. Well done. Well done. Judy from Kansas.
Yep.
All right, everybody, thank you so, so very much for all of your good news. We really, really appreciate it. And, we're gonna go make some beans, talk magic, and then we'll be back in your ears tomorrow. Any fun final thoughts?
Not today.
All right, everybody, we'll see you tomorrow. Until then, please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, take care of the planet, take care of your mental health, and take care of your family. I've been ag.
I've been dg.
And them's the beans. The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Goldberg. Sound design and editing is by Desiree McFarlane with art and web design by Joel Reader with Moxie Design Studios. Music for the Daily Beans is written and performed by they Might Be Giants, and the show is a proud member of the MSW Media Media Network, a collection of creator owned podcasts dedicated to news, politics and justice. For more information, please Visit mswmedia.com.msw media.