Monday, September 21, 2026 Today, MSNOW, CNN, and Politico journalists were denied entry to the White House after Trump promised to ban them; an ICE agent has shot a man trying to flee in Austin; the Pentagon hid the actual number of troops killed in the Iran war; Congress has launched an investigation into missing F-35 parts that ended up in Hong Kong; US Intelligence finds that Russia is once again interfering in our elections; a judge says the $1.776B slush fund is alive and kicking; Civil Rights groups have sued to keep armed federal agents away from the polls; an Appeals Court has rejected Trump’s third-country deportation policy; plus Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
Monday, September 21, 2026
Today, MSNOW, CNN, and Politico journalists were denied entry to the White House after Trump promised to ban them; an ICE agent has shot a man trying to flee in Austin; the Pentagon hid the actual number of troops killed in the Iran war; Congress has launched an investigation into missing F-35 parts that ended up in Hong Kong; US Intelligence finds that Russia is once again interfering in our elections; a judge says the $1.776B slush fund is alive and kicking; Civil Rights groups have sued to keep armed federal agents away from the polls; an Appeals Court has rejected Trump’s third-country deportation policy; plus Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.
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Guest: Tamryn Spruill
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Scene after ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Austin, Texas | AP News
CNN, MS NOW and Politico denied access to White House after Trump ban | CNN
More U.S. troops have died amid Iran war than Pentagon has disclosed publicly | The Washington Post
Hill investigates after F-35 parts diverted to Hong Kong | POLITICO
Russia Aims to Inject Chaos Into Elections, U.S. Intelligence Finds | NYT
Legal fight over Trump’s ‘anti-weaponization’ fund ‘still alive and kicking,’ judge says | POLITICO
Civil Rights Groups Sue to Keep Armed Agents Away From Voting Sites | NYT
Appeals court rejects Trump's third-country deportation policy | POLITICO
Thousands rally outside shuttered Kennedy Center, chanting ‘Hands off!’ | Washington Post
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msw media. Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Monday, September 21, 2026. Today Ms. Now CNN and Politico journalists were entry to the White House after Trump promised to ban them. An ICE agent has shot a man trying to flee in Austin, Texas. The Pentagon hid the actual number of troops killed in the Iran war. Congress has launched an investigation into missing F35 parts that ended up in Hong Kong. US intelligence finds that Russia is once again interfering in our elections. A judge says that the $1.776 billion slush fund is alive and kicking. Civil rights groups have sued to keep armed federal agents away from the polls. And an appeal has rejected Donald Trump's third country deportation policy. I'm Alison Gill.
And I'm Dana Goldberg.
Hello my friend. It is Monday and that's all I have to say about that.
That's it. That's all I have to say about that as well. Let's keep moving and everyone else will come with us.
Yeah. Tiny bit of good news. Olivia [Troye Miles, who is one of my favorite players in the wnba, has surpassed the record for all time points scored in a rookie year, surpassing Caitlin Clark's previous. Both amazing players. And it just so happens today we're going to be interviewing Tamryn Spruill. She's an award winning independent journalist. She's the author of the new book called the W, which is a history of the WNBA. This year is the WNBA's 30th anniversary. That book is available now wherever you get your books. And I'm looking forward to that discussion.
Olivia [Troye Miles is an absolute joy to watch if you ever get a chance to even look up highlight reels. She's just incredible.
She's so fantastic and so humble and just so good. And I absolutely love her to death.
Yeah. And she's having fun. She's having fun out there.
Yeah. That's the point, right? That's the point. There are a few tickets left to our election night watch party where you can come and watch election results at a whole ass bar that I've rented out for me and my friends, Harry will be there giving out Harry Dunn hugs. If you've never hugged Harry Dunn, now's your chance. And if you are a patron of this program and the unjustified podcast or the cleanup on l, 45 podcast, your invite and your ticket link should be in your inbox. And if you wanna become a patron and support what we do here, you can do that@patreon.com thedailybeans awesome. Then I know You've got some events coming up too, my friend.
I do, actually. This week I'm gonna be performing in Chicago Wednesday night, September 23rd. If for some reason it's the first you're hearing of it, do not worry. There are tickets available on my website, danagoldberg.com or just slash. I hate them doing that, tour. Just go to danagoldberg.com and hit my tour. But we're having a little bit of a glitch in the mobile app. So if you can do it from a computer, that would be fantastic.
Boy, that came up fast, that show. I remember talking about it, like, before our Chicago show, and I was like, that's way down the road. And now it's tomorrow, now it's here.
I'm m gonna be doing a very cool event Thursday night for an organization called GenderCool. And if you happen to be in Chicago, I believe you can still get tickets to that. And then the funny Fest in Albuquerque is selling so well. And after having it on hiatus for six years, I'm just so happy. People are so excited to come back. So that's Octo 9th. It's a Friday night during the balloon fiestas last weekend. So, you know, hotels are a little bit harder to come by. But if you're local to Albuquerque, it's an easy or even Santa Fe anywhere in the area, it's an easy drive in and it's going to be a fantastic show. So you can get those on danagoldberg.com as well. Hit my tour schedule and I would love to see you on the road.
Yeah, I'll be there too, on October 9th to say hi to folks, and help raise money for our very important cause, Equality New Mexico, which is an incredible organization.
We're going to have an opportunity for you to do that as listeners. We're going to announce that probably in the next week. Allison is. You know how she uses the money she gets from her veterans benefits and does not like to keep the blood money from this government. So she's been donating it to incredible organizations. We're going to do a donation to Equality New Mexico that we would love to see if we can get you all to match. Not a giant one this time, just a reasonable one, but it's always great. So we've got. We set up a landing page. They'll know it's from you. I'm very excited about it. So we'll announce that probably next week and see if we can get another $5,000 raised for the organization before the Event.
Yeah. And we're actually building a page on our website@dailybeanspod, uh,.com where you can see how much money you all have raised and matched to my veterans benefits donations and our daily beans donations that we've made to multiple charities. So we're looking forward to that as well. Dana, I do have some not great news. This is breaking right now as we're recording this from the Associated Press. They're reporting that an ICE officer is shot and wound a man Sunday afternoon in Texas's capital of Austin. Anti ICE protesters quickly gathered at the scene. One of the eyewitnesses said he spoke to the man who was shot and asked what happened. And he said he was rammed by the ICE SUV and they shot him as he was trying to flee. The unnamed man is in serious but stable condition at a hospital. He was shot once in the torso on the city's north side. Again, this is a developing story. We don't have much beyond that, but we'll have more information for you tomorrow.
Please.
I don't, There's. I don't even know.
What else can you say? Absolutely. It's just another attempt. I feel like it's attempted murder. You know, I know that we're not a court of law, but that's what it is.
I don't have to be a court of law. Right.
To know. Yeah.
That just, What a cup of 45 days ahead of a midterm election. Federal agents are out here shooting people. It's horrific. And hopefully we can. I don't know what much we can do to defund them since they're fully funded by the OBBBA through the end of the term. But we can certainly, when we take back Congress, stop additional funding from going to ice, as we did during the government shutdown this last time.
Yeah.
And then, you know, the Republicans were able to use this sort of trick to get around the filibuster called budget reconciliation to fund ICE without us additionally, which is what they had to do this time. But if we have Congress, they will no longer be able to do that because you need a majority.
So that is a good reason to get out and vote. Yep.
Very important. All right, everybody, we have a lot of news to get to today. Let's hit the hot notes. Hot notes. All right, first up from cnn, CNN reporter Betsy Klein was denied access at the White House Saturday morning, and her press pass was seized one day after Trump announced he was banning. CNN, Ms. now and Politico, First Amendment experts say the action is unconstitutional. A reporter for Politico and a reporter and a photographer for Ms. Now were also denied access to the White House grounds. When they arrived to work Saturday morning, all three news organizations signaled they will take legal action to defend the rights of their reporters. The restrictions came one day after Trump announced out of the blue that CNN, MSNow, and Politico were just all banned, effective immediately from the White House. He didn't complain about any specific story, just griped generically about fake news to his, you know, that's his go to phrase for dismissing unfavorable coverage. Now, I imagine that once the lawsuit is filed, this happened to a couple of reporters. I remember when Jim Acosta in 2018 had his press pass revoked by Donald Trump and he sued and got it back. I think that once these organizations sue, whether together or separately, in three lawsuits that become consolidated, I think that they will probably get their passes reinstated maybe within 24 to 48 hours of filing the lawsuit as it works its way through the courts. So we'll see what happens and we'll keep you posted.
All right. This one is from, a publication that's still allowed in. This is from the Post. More American service members have died in the Middle east during the ongoing war than the Pentagon has disclosed publicly. This is according to six U.S. officials familiar with the Defense Department's internal casualty accounting data. Five of the officials said that there have been at least 22 military fatalities, four more than what appears in the Pentagon's public database known as the Defense Casualty Analysis System, or dcas. The total number of fatalities listed on the Pentagon website still says 14. I'd be so fucking mad if I was a family of one of our fallen soldiers that they're not even recording with this Defense Department. A sixth official, who like the other spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the figure, said 23 service members have died since February 28, when the Trump administration, in concert with Israel, initiated the war in Iran. Not all of the undisclosed deaths are directly tied to the conflict, but they have involved US Personnel who were in the Middle east amid ongoing hostilities. This is what the person says now. Additionally, the official said three U.S. contractors who were based in the region, they have died since combat combat operations began. Details surrounding the undisclosed deaths, including the service members identities, as well as when, how and where they died, they remain unclear. Officials familiar with the higher casualty number express frustration that the additional loss of life is not reflected in the Pentagon's public casualty portal. The Pentagon declined to address questions about the accounting discrepancy. The Iran war, which polls show is deeply unpopular with the American public, has become a political liability for Trump and the Republican Party ahead of November's midterm election elections. The administration's casualty accounting practices faced intense scrutiny earlier this year when the names of four U.S. troops who died as a result of the Iran war were briefly excluded from the Pentagon's official tally.
Yeah, and like I said, I just went the other day, it still says 14. And the reason that the Trump administration and Hegseth are giving is that, well, it's not actually a war. Those four people weren't part of the first 60 days. And so it's just a conflict, and therefore they don't count as casualties of the war. Wow. Now, in a related story from Politico, I can't fucking believe the incompetence of this goddamn administration.
I mean, at this point, it doesn't surprise me. Just shocking.
Sensitive F35 fighter jet technology was unexpectedly diverted to Hong Kong this summer, sparking an inquiry on Capitol Hill and raising the possibility that China now has access to key components of the highly classified weapon system. A shipment of F35 parts bound for the United States for repairs was rerouted as it transited the Pacific Ocean from Australia, according to three people familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. The Pentagon confirmed the disappearance of some of the components. The parts which were intermediary was transporting on behalf of F35 manufacturer Lockheed Martin, instead wound up in high Hong Kong. It's not clear why the equipment was rerouted or who has possession of it now. Great. The shipment included one of the jet's canopies, which covers the cockpit and contains stealth technology that only the US and its allies have access to.
Not anymore.
An adversary could study these parts and potentially reverse engineer the prize technology if it had one of the canopies. Just fucking fantastic. I mean, how many more things can Hegseth do to endanger our pilots? I mean, the signal chats. it's just our canopies are in Hong Kong now. Although he did put out.
But, Allison, he's focusing. He is focusing on some very important shit. Let's not take that away from him.
He did put out the updated troop testosterone screening program. And apparently, Dana, that includes screenings for reduced libido and loss of morning wood. How do you even monitor that?
I'm telling you this, motherfucker. I just can't.
Logan and Jake Paul were at the Pentagon today. Maybe he's hired them to do morning wood inspections. I don't fucking know, but what the hell, I don't either.
all right, we're moving on. I really despise so many people in government. This one's from the Times. The Russian government has been targeting Americans with COVID online disinformation operations seeking to undermine public confidence in November's midterm elections, using a familiar playbook in an attempt to inject chaos into the voting system, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter. Classified U.S. intelligence assessments from recent months have determined that the Kremlin has again authorized a digital influence campaign to pedal content across social media in hopes of seeding or amplifying domestic divisions around the election season. In two separate waves over the past week, a network previously linked to the Kremlin trolls posted a series of videos on Twitter and Blue sky that appeared to rely on AI to churn out baseless claims against Democrats running for Senate and close the contested races. Elements of the campaign were reported earlier by msnow. The Post attacked the candidates using themes that Donald and the Republican Party have relied on to disparage Democrats. I'm sure you can guess what some of these are. Yes, accusations of corruption, anti Semitism, and support for gay and transgender rights. the post included. I know, like, that's a fucking deficiency now. I just. I can't. The post included false or unsubstantiated claims and videos devised to seem as if they came from prominent news organizations, including cnn, the BBC, and the New York Times. Among those targeted were Senator John Ossoff, who faces reelection in Georgia and is kicking ass, and other challengers who have a chance of giving Democrats a majority in the Senate. That's Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Roy Cooper, North Carolina, Troy Jackson in Maine, Chris Pappas in New Hampshire, Mary Poltola, who was kicking ass in Alaska, Abdoul Syed in Michigan, James Talarico in Texas, and Joshua Turek and Iowa.
You know what's really funny, though, Dana, is that the Pentagon and the US Intelligence agencies are saying, we don't know. We can't. We can't make an assessment whether they're trying to help Trump or not. But you look at the list of people that they're attacking.
Yeah, no shit. A post that, by the way, that appeared on Thursday. It mimicked a Times video featuring an image of Jamie Lee Curtis with subtitles, criticizing the Democrats for their policies on transgender issues. And I quote, there's not even a scantilla of truth in this is what the actress publicist Heidi Schaeffer said in an interview. And, of course, there's not an iota of truth because if you know Jamie Lee Curtis, you know that she's got a trans fucking child. It is just mind blowing to me that she a hundred percent fully supports with all of her chest. Right.
And they put out an AI video of her saying that these Democrats like Troy Jackson and John Ossoff don't support her transgender daughter. That's what they're trying to do.
Such yeah.
Also Ah From Politico A federal judge signaled Friday she intends to let a lawsuit over Trump's controversial anti weaponization slush fund proceed, even though officials have insisted that the program has been abandoned and it's moot. This isn't my case, but this helps my case. U.S. district Judge Leona Brinkama said statements from Trump Attorney General Blanch and others have indicated plans to achieve the goals of the anti weaponization fund and compensating alleged victims of, you know, politicized law enforcement by other means. That could include by paying people directly from the Treasury Department's judgment fund, an open ended source of money tapped by the Justice Department for a lot of settlements, quote, that's being used apparently to do exactly what the specific fund in this case was supposed to be doing. That's what the judge said during a 40 minute hearing in Alexandria, Virginia. These issues that underlie this case are still alive and kicking in my view. Judge Brinkoma also said it was possible that part of the deal the government entered into to settle a lawsuit that Trump filed in Florida over the leaking of his confidential tax records violates a federal law that bars the president from directly or indirectly initiating or terminating an IRS audit. Justice Department attorney Andrew Block, who's also the Justice Department attorney in my slush fund case, repeatedly argued Friday that the case is moot and unripe because there's little public evidence of planned action related to the anti weaponization fund and no specific claims that audits that have actually been halted as a result of the so called immunity agreement that Blanche signed as part of the settlement. When Brinkham asked whether that immunity component of the broader settlement is currently enforceable, Block wouldn't answer. I'm not prepared to say that, he said. Brinkham gave the administration 30 days to turn over the relevant records, but said the the depositions and answers to the plaintiff's written questions could be held off until after she issues a written ruling on those issues aired on Friday. This is big news for my lawsuit as well against the slush fund filed over here in California. The Department of Justice filed a motion Andrew Block himself filed A motion to dismiss my case saying her case is moot. You need to dismiss the case because the slush fund is dead. We're also arguing, by the way, that it is clearly not good.
And this one is from the Times. Civil rights groups and labor unions sued the Trump administration on Friday, asserting that its aggressive immigration enforcement and suggestion that it could send armed agents to polling sites amounted to voter intimidation and violated the Voting Rights Act. Brought by a coalition of black, Asian and Latino civil rights groups and unions, including the NAACP and the Service Employees International Union, the lawsuit seeks to block any effort by the Trump administration to deploy federal agents at voting locations, which the group's can deter citizens trying to legally vote. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. district Court of the District of Columbia, argues that Trump Secretary of Homeland Security Marquine Mullen and other members of the administration had created a climate in which voters, especially voters of color, are intimidated and fearful of engaging in the democratic process. They had done so, the suit says, simultaneously pushing false narratives of rampant voting by non citizens. Not happening, by the way. Conducting sweeping immigration enforcement in communities of color. Color. And that is happening, by the way. And repeatedly suggesting that they could send armed agents to polls. So we are going to keep an eye on this case for you. It is a very important one.
Yeah, it should be interesting to see whether or not they have standing since the election hasn't actually happened. But you can't get a do over on an election, so we'll see how it goes. And from Politico, federal appeals court blocked a centerpiece of the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda Friday. This is big news and it's good news. The court concluded that efforts to deport people to countries in which they have never lived and have no ties must be accompanied by greater due process protections. The Trump administration dramatically reduced protections for people sent to so called third countries last year in an effort to carry through on Trump's promises to accelerate expulsions of undocumented immigrants. Quote, an individual's right to contest removal to a country based on a fear of persecution in that country means little if one does not receive prior notice of the intended removal destination and meaningful opportunity to contest that destination. That's Judge Seth A. Frame or Afram. I'm not sure how you say his name. This is the first time I've read something from this judge. And that's what this judge wrote for the unanimous panel on the Boston based First Circuit Court of Appeals. Quote, the statute and regulations prescribed hearing related procedures for fear of persecution claims with no exception for third country removals. This is what Aframe added, he's a Biden appointee. And they went on to say, we reject DHS's efforts to create such an exception from a whole clause. The frame's decision was joined by Judge Laura Montecalvo, another Biden appointee, and Judge Jeffrey Howard, a GW Bush appointee. Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security didn't comment. The ruling upholds the bulk of a months old decision by District Judge Brian Murphy. I remember this the Massachusetts based Biden appointee who has presided over third country litigation for more than a year. Murphy's efforts to immediately restrain the administration's policy surged to the Supreme Court last year and was quickly put on hold by the justices. A separate attempt by Murphy to weigh holding the administration officials in contempt for violating his original order when Trump sent those children to a third country was also put on hold by the Supreme Court. This issue is likely headed back to the Supreme Court for a third time.
All right, thank you my friend. And lastly from the Post, thousands of supporters of the John F. Kennedy Center Performing Arts gathered Friday as the sun set over the Potomac surrounded as much of the building as they could. Linked arms, enchanted. Hands off. Hands off. We're going to cover this with some visuals by the way, over on Beans Talk. So definitely join us there for some joy. A little bit of good trouble if you will indeed.
All right everyone, more joy headed our way. I'll be speaking with award winning independent journalist and the author of the new book the W A History of the wnba. Her name's Tamron Sproul and that'll be right after this break. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages. We'll be right back. This episode is brought to you by IQ Bar, our exclusive snack and hydration sponsor. IQ bars are better for you. Clean plant protein bars packed with fiber and brain boosting nutrients with zero added sugar. You no longer have to choose between healthy or delicious snacks. And right now IQ Bar is offering you an exclusive deal. 20 off all IQ Bar products plus you get free shipping. Just text Daily Beans, all one word to 64,000 more than 20,000 five star reviews later. They have built a large fan base and it's easy to see why. One of my favorite things about IQ Bar is how simple and straightforward it is. Almonds are the main ingredient, first and most important ingredient, and the label isn't packed with things I can't pronounce. They're also free from gluten, dairy, soy, GMOs and artificial sweeteners, which makes them useful for people with a wide range of dietary needs. There are even nine flavor options including Chocolate Sea Salt, Peanut Butter Chip, Banana Nut, my favorite Toasted Coconut Chip, Lemon Blueberry Mint Chocolate Chip. IQ Bar also makes hydration mixes and mushroom coffees designed to help fuel brain and body. I like keeping a few bars on hand for afternoons when lunch was hours ago and dinner is still nowhere close. IQ Bar is always there when I need it and right now IQ Bar is offering our special podcast audience 20% off all IQ bar products, plus you get free shipping. So to get your 20% off text daily beans to 64,000 text daily beans to 64,000. That's daily beans to 64,000. Message and data rates may apply. See Terms for details. All right everybody, Fast Growing Trees has officially changed its name to trees.com but the company itself is still the same great online nursery that you love. With thousands of plants available and more than 3 million happy customers, you can shop for pretty much anything you need to add some life to your space. Whether that means fruit trees, flowering plants, privacy options, shrubs, or something green for inside the house. The plants are carefully raised before shipping and trees.com stands behind how great they'll look when they show up at your door. I just ordered some catnip plants, citronella, to keep mosquitoes away outdoors. It was easy to plant. They arrived healthy and beautiful, and if I needed help, which I didn't really because they planted pretty easily, they have plant experts that you can contact that will help you out with it. It was really great not having to bounce around the big box stores all weekend trying to get everything that I needed. Trees.com sorts its huge selection around different climates and growing zones, which makes choosing much less intimidating. And their alive and thrive guarantee gives me extra confidence ordering a living plant online. For me, it's a much easier way to take on a Y project that used to be a big hassle. They're Alive and Thrive Guarantee promises your plants arrive happy and healthy. No green thumb required. Which is good for me because I don't have one of those just quality plants you can count on right now. They have great deals on planting essentials, up to half off selected plants and your audience Here you get 20% off the purchase when using the code Daily Beans at checkout. That's an additional 20% off. Better plants and better growing at AH trees.com using the code daily beans at checkout trees.com code daily beans now is the perfect time to plant let's grow together. Use daily beans to save Today offer is valid for a limited time. Terms and conditions may apply. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. joining us today is an award winning independent journalist.
Yay.
Independent journalists. Formerly the editor in chief of Swish Appeal, she has written for the Atlantic, Harper's Bazaar, New York Times, Red Bulletin, SLAM. She currently writes@thehardscreen.net. she has a new book coming out on September 22nd called The A History of the WNBA. How the WNBA Survived, Evolved and Changed Professional Sports. Please watch. Welcome Tamryn Sproul. Hi, Tamron.
Hi, Alison. Thank you so much for having me. It's a joy to be here.
I am so excited to talk to you because this, it almost seems like an explosion, like a rocket ship for women's sports. And I think that the W has a lot to do with that, but it's been around for 30 years. We're celebrating the 30 year anniversary of the WNBA this year.
Yeah, 30 years. So much has happened. and this most recent burst that's bringing it into the height of, mainstream culture is such a complex issue. It should be a time of joy. It's 30 years. It should be party time. But unfortunately, it's, the types of storylines that have always plagued the league and imperiled the ability for women, to succeed in mainstream, professional sports. You know, here we go again, with things that are just taking attention away from what these women do, on the court and in their communities.
Yeah. And let's talk about how that, those problems have evolved. They were different in 1996 than they are today, are they not?
Oh, that's a great, question. They're very different in that it was just a question of can it succeed? You know, it was very novel and one, everyone saw what the women did at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Then it was, oh, this is exciting. You can pack a house and we can make this work. But part of the issue early on was the owners being. What's the word? a bit complacent after the early success because the first couple of seasons defied expectations. And so they're expecting that to continue without having to make any modifications to, their business plans to keep people engaged, to navigate around early 2000s recession and all of these things. And so, failing to evolve, your business plan is, you know, kind of caused a lot of issues for the league. And, there's a lot of pressure on local markets to do their own, to, find their own sponsors. And that's when individual NBA team owners were like, m, you know, we want the rules to change that these teams can be owned by anyone, not just by an MBA owner. So that it sounds attractive at first, like, oh, anybody can do it. This is a great thing. But it's really because many of those owners wanted to pull out of working, with the teams. they were losing money. They weren't happy with that. And, and not committed to finding ways to make their individual teams and the league profitable.
Well, yeah, but it's because of their own failures. Or do you think it was bad business? Or do you think it was just neglect out of some sort of weird misogyny or something?
I love how you phrase that because I think it's a recipe of both. there's definitely the neglect of expecting it to coast, expecting a sure thing without putting nearly adequate investment into the league that, for example, any NBA team gets to have. It's a given that people are going to stay committed even when NBA teams are losing money. I quoted David Stern in the book, who in press talked about the number of NBA teams at a time that were losing money, even after the WNBA started. It's definitely the misogyny that. That, oh, something's struggling. It just doesn't need to exist. If it's women, if it's men, we're going to find a way to. A way to make it work no matter what and put all of our resources into it. and then the social narratives begin to spin. nobody likes the wnba. Women's sports suck. They can't dunk. So it's a crappy product. Nobody cares. And the league itself is not countering those negative, narratives is. And so then you just kind of have life support, a league on life support for, you know, mid-2000s, until around 2016, 17, 18, when things started to change a bit.
Let's talk about when things started to change and how you set this up in the book. Because there's a pivot. There is a tipping point, right?
There is a tipping point. And I get asked that question a lot, and m. Most of the time it's about the recent, more recent success. But there are a couple of major things that happened. One of them was a deal with espn. They gave them full rights to the, postseason games. And they were not doing the league any justice. They were suppressing the coverage. I remember in, goodness, I think it was 2018, a semifinals, Eastern Conference series between the Washington Mystics and Atlanta Dream. Five games, you know, going to the championship on the line. I'm watching and waiting for the game to start. And they're showing college football early season college football game, and did not cut away from that to, to go to this, you know, consequential professional women's game. And that's as recently as 2018. And some of the bad deals with ESPN absolutely just made the league hard to find, except for in the postseason. another tipping point, I would say would be social media that gave players the power to log in and to talk about their lives, to individually find ways to supplement their very low WNBA salary and, build their own fan base and connect with fans directly and to call out the issues, call out what's wrong behind the scenes. And by 2018, you have, members of the Aces, Carolyn sword, Kayla McBride, these players posting photos of their teammates asleep on airport floors, because of weather delays. And they're expected to land in D.C. and play a game, you know, without sleeping in a hotel bed. And they're like, this is bad for our health. You know, the time change alone, and we're not going to do it. And that just kind of blew things up. all players were not on board with that. Obviously the Mystics were like, everybody else does it, you know, but these newer players, Asia Wilson was a rookie, were like, this isn't okay. Somebody has to take a stand even if we, you know, forfeit this game. And in many ways, the game cost them. Not playing that game and having to take a loss cost them a chance at the postseason. Because when the rest of the season kind of unraveled, you know, they were like, a win away from that final playoff spot and they didn't win, so they didn't go. But look at the change that sacrifice made to where now we have private, you know, we have charter planes where that never happened consistently until Kathy Engelbert came along.
Yeah, there were a lot of those inflection points.
And I, you know, I love how you focus on the social media aspect of it, mainly because of the, you know, getting to know the players. You know, I do this little podcast with my friend Charlotte Clymer about Ted Lasso Season four and the women's football team in Richmond. And, you know, we're often talking about wanting to get to know the players better, like that's the. And I know it's a fictional television show, but, you know, wanting to make those personal connections with the players, wanting to know who they are and what they think. And I think that that was Massive. I think that was massive. And the way that you, you know, explained in the book, I think it just, you hit it out of the park with that.
Oh, thank you. And I'm glad you brought this topic up. because we connect, you know, as humans, we connect to stories, we connect to people we have something, in common with. If we see something of ourselves or just somebody who's doing something that's interesting or inspiring. And those stories for so long were just not being told. Everything was. I mean, I'm just gonna say it. I guess that's where the homophobia comes in because it's like, just keep the focus on the ball and we'll put the, you know, mainstream looking, heterosexual looking. And I'm doing finger quotes here for people who aren't seeing this, to will promote that and then basketball and keep it really just this tight box of content that they wanted to cover because if they did start to cover more of the players personal lives, ooh, then you'd know that people are gay and woohoo. And that that also was a major reason that the league for so long was suppressed. And then you see something like Az Fudd getting the number one draft pick in Dallas and last year Paige Beckers, and they're playing on the same team and they've been partners for, you know, years. And so that it was really important to me in that epilogue to end with that and to have it be presented kind of casually that, you know, to kind of round out where we are now that we have the number one pick dating the former number one pick and they're playing together on the same team and are very out and open and you have the stud buds and all of this, people just being their authentic selves where it was, people being ostracized in the past and just to really clarify and show where we got. And it's not the league that did it, it's the players that did it and social media that enabled them to showcase who they are as people, not just athletes.
Yeah. Amazing. Was there anything that, you know, when you're doing any research for this book that surprised you that you didn't know that you learned that you were like, whoa, that's so.
Gosh, I love that question too. the reason I love that question is because I was very much in a discovery, point of view, or a discovery mindset to kind of do the research, present what I already knew from covering it and from what I knew as a fan watching the league from the beginning and seeing what, patterns and threads kind of presented themselves. And the biggest pattern that surprised me was the fraud of the league's financials, that multiple times, you know, whenever there's a CBA negotiation and, oh, the commissioner of the NBA and WNBA president are going to discuss, oh, no, we can't give the players more money because we are dealing with, all of these losses and what have you. And they're always. The quote is always this. A specific number. Over a couple of decades, it was $12 million. And I'm like, there's no way that the losses are going to be exactly $12 million.
Every time.
Every single, every time. And that's what Aneko Guamake called out in the 2020 CBA negotiations. She's like, show us the receipts. You're saying we're losing money. Show us. You know, nobody's. It's just all been so vague. And there was a demand in her essay in the Players Tribune to show us what the, you know, actual financials are. We demand transparency because. Because how can a negotiation, be collective if only one side has the actual information? It's unfair and it's. I mean, that's just corrupt. To expect people to sit at a table and make decisions on actual dollars and cents that they don't have information about. That's one of the things that surprised me. And then it would be like paying
somebody a percentage but not telling you what the gross that you made was like.
Exactly. Don't take our word for it.
Right? Yeah. Trust me, bro. The old trust me, bro contract.
Yeah, exactly. And the thing is that, you know, these are educated women. You know, guma K graduated from Stanford. the league requires that women finish college or be a certain age by the time they're eligible for the draft. And so they got their education, you know, like, some went on to law school. Some are doing other things. And so you required all these things of us that you didn't require of men, and you expect us to show up like airheads to, negotiate this. And they're absolutely not doing it. They have the leverage now, you know, because of the social media and doing things on their own. But in the past, they really didn't. And I don't blame those players, you know, you hear, well, why didn't they do something sooner? Why did they, you know, put up with this and that? Well, the league would not exist if they were clapping back in 2000, you know, you don't like it? Well, fine. We don't need a league. And so they were just fighting to keep it alive until there was that leverage to wield.
Right. And now they have it. Now they have it. And I'm so excited about where it. The potential is. Like, talk for a minute about where you see it going.
Whoa, that's. Oh, boy. for the play and the expansion, it's just. It's beautiful. I'm so glad that there's a team in Canada now. And, only at second season, you have the Valkyries with the head coach, Natalie Nakase, who was an assistant and won championships with the Aces, and they're one of the best teams in the league. And then you have Olivia [Troye Miles coming in who's an.
She's my favorite.
She's a star. I know people who've never watched basketball before. Like, I love Olivia [Troye Miles. so the product and the personalities and the investment from all over that has allowed for this expansion. the amount of merch that's now, like, really nice merch. Whereas in the past, you're lucky if you could get a key fob or a lanyard or something. And, that all bodes well. But I, I do have major concerns about the ownership. And Kathy Engelbert announced recently that she's going to be gone after the end of the year. and I was hoping that there would be a way for her to stay because of how much that she contributed to getting the league to where it is now. But at the same time, she lost the respect of the players and made decisions that, to me, are politically motivated. we're in a situation where it's a backlash of 2020, where the players in the wubble, we couldn't, you know, as a society, we were trapped in our homes and under quarantine. So people were tuning in and watching, and the players, you know, demanded. They're like, we're not going to play the season unless we get to do this advocacy work. And they didn't like that. The owner of the Dream, Kelly, Loeffler, was anti Black Lives Matter. They had it on the courts and she, you know, came out with a vehement, you know, opposition to that, to that move, because she's in a re election for Senate and she, you know, she was appointed to the seat after somebody died. And so she was, running for reelection and just totally, trying to gather voters from Trump's base. So they got rid of her. They, you know, they flipped the U.S. congress because of it. You know, that giving, two for the first time in history, sending two senators from Georgia to the. To Capitol, Hill, January 5th.
I remember it well. It was the day before the attack on the Capitol. and we were so happy for about 16 minutes.
And then chaos, right?
Chaos reigns supreme. the next morning, I stayed up in the. Until, like, two or three in the morning, till we got results. Till we got the results from the Georgia Senate races and flipped the Senate by one seat and then, you know, went to bed, got a couple hours sleep, got up to watch the certification of the election and. Bleh.
Exactly. And that it's a wild time. And it's still like that. That's still lingering. And I don't even know that is still lingering. and I feel like we're at a place now where Kathy Engelbert's hands were tied. There, the players said, we're not playing unless we get to do this. So she did it, and then she's like, I have no grounds to get rid of Kelly Loeffler. but the players were like, okay, fine, we'll force her out on her own. And they did. And so I know that Engelbert has donated to the Republican Party. so now they have all this power, and. And she takes a team out of Connecticut that was successful, owned by an indigenous group, the first professional sports team in the country owned by an indigenous group, the Mohican Tribe, who rescued the Orlando Miracle that was about to fold so that it wouldn't fold and they could have A team in 2003. The sun has a very committed fan base. Sold out TD Garden twice, two years in a row, beginning in 2024. And, okay, I'm not going to let you sell to a Boston Celtics minority owner who's offering more money and also ponying up an extra hundred million dollars to build the players their own practice facility and have them play in Boston. Strong arms them into saying, well, we didn't approve this sale. So we. Next in line is Houston. And the owner of the Rockets is appointed by Trump as the ambassador to Italy in San Marino, Tillman Fertitta, billionaire who also recently bought, What is it? Ah, shoot, the name is slipping my mind. a very famous landmark, restaurant here in Boston. And so he's kind of of, you know, infiltrated. You know, I'm m buying this restaurant that's like a Boston staple. Taking the team.
Rich people ruin everything. T. We need. We need nice rich people. Do they exist?
I know. And so when you asked about what I see for the future of the league, that's One of the things that I've been pondering is do the players now need to advocate in their next CBA for the opportunity to have a vote on who gets to be an owner? Owner. Because why would you want an owner who doesn't share your values, who is appointed by a president who is eroding, you know, is just treating immigrants like garbage and eroding freedoms and rollbacks on everything that doesn't represent the league or their or its interests.
No. A president who like hates gay people as we like. No.
Right.
Sorry that we shouldn't have that anyway. But we should especially not have those people involved in ownership of the team.
Yes. What does he want with a WNBA team? And for Kathy Engelbert to do that, you know, even when the players were angry, I said, you know, she's a, she has made this happen, like she's a great business mind to get the league where it is now with all these endorsements and everything. So I don't want to be unfair and just, you know, baby, out with the bathwater kind of thing at the same time. That to me was a deal breaker. That's where I got off the Engelbert train is when you are stripping a region of its only team and then unrivaled. The league that was started by Brianna Stewart and Nafisa Collier, they announced a game that's going to be played in January. So they're coming here in the dead of winter where it's going to be frigid and the tickets sold really quickly. Everybody's clamoring to get them and it's grow. The game is not getting rid of the only team in a six state region. And it's disappointing that mainstream media that has the most access to Engelbert and others, in that orbit are not asking these questions and everything is just the typical fun and keep people kind of ignorant of what's really going on.
Well, again, we've got the players and we've got social media and so I don't think they could keep things a secret for too long, as much as they want to. Well, thank you so much for taking the time and speaking with us today, here at the Daily Beans. Can you tell everybody because your book comes out, it's called W Comes out, on September 22nd, as I always encourage people to do, go to your local bookseller, buy 10 copies, put them in local free libraries and give them as gifts for the holidays and make sure to keep one for yourself because it's an incredible book. But tell everyone where they can get it, where they can find you, where they can follow you.
Oh, thank you. on most places, I'm amrynsproul. T A M M R Y N S P R U I l l tamarindsprull.com that links to various places, including bookshop.org where if you don't have a local bookstore, but you still want to support the indies, you can buy from there. And a portion of sales goes directly to, is distributed among independent, booksellers in that network.
Yeah, that's a very cool organization. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time and talking to us today. Everybody, please check out Tavern Sproul wherever you can. The book comes out September 22nd. And stick around and we'll be right back with the good news. Everybody, welcome back. It's time for the good news, everyone.
Then Good news, everyone.
M. M. All right, everybody, send it all to us. We're all gas, no breaks to the midterm elections. We need all of the hope we can microdose in with you. So please send it to Us Daily. Beanspod.com click on Contact. You can send good trouble suggestions, postcard writing parties that you're having. any. Any kind of good trouble you've gotten into, we want to hear about it. You can also send your good news into us. If it's big or small or recent or from a long time ago, we would just love to revel in it with you. You can also send shout outs to loved ones or nonprofits or activist voting activist groups, get out the vote groups you're working with. maybe you've got a candidate that not a lot of people have heard of that you want to amplify. That's coming up in the midterm elections. Maybe you have a self shout out or a government program shout out, send it to us. And all you got to do is attach a photo. It can be anything. It can be your pet. We can try to guess the breeds in your shelter pup. We're not very good at it, but it's fun anyway. also, random animal photos off the Internet work just as well if you don't have a pet. You can send an adoptable pet in your area. You could send a picture of a sunset or a funny meme or something you're making or creating baby pictures. Anything at all. Send it all to us, please. Dailybeanspod.com Click on Contact. All right, first up, Good trouble. Good trouble today comes from blue.in a red state, Idaho. Has a reproductive rights bill, on the ballot. And we need to get out the yes vote. There's lots of signs to vote no, but that leaves the death ban in place. Women need a yes vote to save their lives. Idaho has draconian abortion laws allowing abortions only if the mother's life is at risk. She can lose a kidney or a lung or even a limb, but if she survives, then she gets no medical care. Please help get the word out for a yes vote to save lives in Idaho. Thank you. And we'll have a link in the episode notes to learn more from Ballotpedia. Thank you so much. From blue.in a red state.
All right, next up, from Nikki Pronoun. She and her.
Hello.
Thanks for keeping me informed and laughing. This week's good news. They're late, but I finally have lots of tomatoes. The type in front are descended from seeds my grandma boy brought with her when she immigrated from Italy almost a hundred years ago.
Pomodoro.
And she grew them and saved seed every year. And then my dad and now me. The second photo is from the celebration of the birth of the God Ganesh. My friend invited me to celebrate with her family. The small images of Ganesh were made by family members and the chemistry book is from a student wanting Ganesh's help with that subject. While looking through my photos, it struck me that this week's good things were brought to me by immigrants.
Amazing. Look, El Pomodori. I'm learning to talk Italian. Oh, that's a gorgeous look at that. Fruit and oils and a chemistry book for Ganesh. That's so great. All right, next up from Connor. Pronouns, he and him. Good news, everyone. Shout out to the Mazzoni center in Philadelphia. They've been working with the LGBTQ people and women for decades now to provide accessible, affirming and non judgmental health care. In addition, they also provide mental health services, sex education, hiv, AIDS testing and treatment, grocery help, pharmacy discounts, and many other important things. George Takei was even honored and came to speak. Oh, wow. I've been privileged as a transgender man to utilize their services from the past decade. Plus, they are supported by generous donors. Thank you for your hard work. PS Bonus shout outs attached to the parking garage level names at the Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia and to animals that need homes. Okay, the kiddies are great.
Aw.
Okay, so we have the tolerance floor, the let's see, compromise floor. Freedom of the press, humility, idealism and foreign policy awareness to tyranny and humor. And then of course, exit to the street on the ground level. Thank you so much for this and the picture of the kitties too.
Yeah. Next up, from Shelley Pronuncia and her High Beans queen. I'm fairly new to your show and I absolutely love it. Well, welcome, Shelly. When the weekend comes, I feel listless and lost without it. Same, Shelly. Here are two pictures of three of my cats. The twosome is Casey on top and Sweet Pea on the bottom. The second picture is Lucy. All these sweet kitties are rescues. I had two surgeries last year, one of which caused complications with my vocal cord. These kitties helped get me through. My voice changed, but my love for these guys only got more intense. Thank you for all you do, and especially the snark and the cursing. Well, you know what, Shell? You are fucking welcome.
Thank you, Shelly. Yeah. I hope your first episode wasn't that taint one, but, you know, welcome.
I mean, it might have been, actually.
That might be a fun first episode, I think so. To join us. What if the first time you listened to us Was that January 5, 2021 charismatic megaplasty?
I think we got a lot of listeners, if that was the point. First one they ever heard. They were like, these are my people.
Yeah, I think we did too. Thanks so much for that. Next up, Natasha Pronoun. She and her Guten morgen Bonenkoenigen. Did I get that right? Koenigenen.
Asking the wrong person.
Boonen. Koenigenen. I think it's beautiful. Ladies. Love the show. Baby Beans. Thank you so much for all you do. I've listened for years. even have my 12 and 8 year olds tuned into the show. Their favorite parts being the Good news and of course, the opening jingle. Recently, my 12 year old requested I write to you about a discovery that he's made I love. He's learning about ancient civilization in schools and his teacher introduced them to the bop. Istanbul, not Constantinople. In his words, mom, it's they might be giants. They're from the beans. Oh, no.
Nice.
We've got a backwards association. I hope this gives you a smile. Attached pod tariff is a baby pic of said 12 year old as a NICU baby. He was 9 weeks early, but he kept all the nurses on their toes. He's doing great now. That's incredible, Natasha. And for your son, check out, the song about the sun. The sun is a massive incandescent gas. I think you'll enjoy it. This baby look.
I know.
Oh, so adorable and happy.
I'm, gonna need your help with the next one. This is from JD From Wisconsin. Hi, my beautiful beans ladies. In an effort to bring some good news to our own lives, my husband booked us a surprise trip to Nor Norway for our anniversary in a few months. I've been trying to learn some Norwegian phrases and realized that Duolingo, for all its faults, inadvertently taught me what might be the most important phrase I can learn. Hanneren orange wie bekogger. And it means, here's an orange clown. We're sorry. He's an orange clown. We're sorry.
Han ehren onsky klove cloven v bacalgar.
He's an orange clown. We're sorry. That's so fantastic.
Put it on a shirt, J.D.
i know, I know. I want it. Thought that might make you smile like it did for me. Keep fighting the good fight against this orange cloban.
Orange, orange. Put chicken in the pot. More for nini mini mortals.
We know it's not the sweetest thing. I bet a Norwegian chef might sound
a little bit like, oh, it's like trading Places. I'm Inga from Sweden. But you're wearing lederhosen. I'm from M. Sweden. All right, everybody, thank you so much for the good news. Really needed that today. Please continue to send it all into us and we appreciate you, listening. Any final thoughts, my friend?
Not today.
All right, everybody, we'll be back tomorrow. Come check us out on Beans Talk. We're going to go over some really great protests, videos and photos, both of people protesting the crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community in Turkey, by protesting at Turkish embassies around the world and also the Kennedy center protests. So check it out. Beans Talk. It's free on YouTube and we'll be back here 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 Joelle 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.