Wednesday, September 23, 2026 Today, the FBI was investigating Susan Collins for pay for play government contracts but Trump ended the probe, Trump officials just kicked hundreds of thousands of people off their health plans using AI, the man shot and detained by ICE in Austin is now partly paralyzed, the looksmaxxing influencer Clavicular has been charged with rape in Massachusetts, and a judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Cassidy Hutchinson’s crooked lawyer against Andrew Weissmann; plus Dana delivers your Good News.
Wednesday, September 23, 2026
Today, the FBI was investigating Susan Collins for pay for play government contracts but Trump ended the probe, Trump officials just kicked hundreds of thousands of people off their health plans using AI, the man shot and detained by ICE in Austin is now partly paralyzed, the looksmaxxing influencer Clavicular has been charged with rape in Massachusetts, and a judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Cassidy Hutchinson’s crooked lawyer against Andrew Weissmann; plus Dana delivers your Good News.
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Hello and welcome to the Daily beans for Wednesday, September 23, 2026. Today, the FBI was investigating Susan Collins for Pay M plague government contracts, but Trump ended the probe. Trump officials just kicked hundreds of thousands of people off their health plans using AI. The man shot and detained by ICE in Austin is now partly paralyzed. The look smacking influencer clavicular has been charged with rape in Massachusetts. And a judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Cassidy Hutchinson's crooked lawyer against Andrew Weissman. Allison's out for the day. I'm your host, Dana Goldberg. Hey, everyone. As you've noticed, I am in the captain's chair. Alison's out today. She's going to be back tomorrow. But we do have an interview for you. It's director of organizing for Red Wine and Blue. We got Missy McGinnis and founder Katie Paris. I had the pleasure of meeting them in Chicago at our Chicago gala. You are going to love this interview. There is going to be a link in the show notes so you can join your local community or create your own Redwine Blue. That's where you can do it. It's, ah, Redwine Blue. And that's it. Listen, if you're in Chicago and you're hearing this for the first time, I have a Show tonight, Wednesday, September 23rd, at the Den Theater. You can get tickets on their website, which is thedentheater.com or you can go to my website, danagoldberg.com hit my tour schedule and get tickets. There's still some available. I would love to have you there. I've got an incredible comedian named David Ian who's here from London opening for me, and he is an absolute fucking joy. So for those of you that are going to be at the show, I can't wait to see you and the rest of you. Hopefully I'll be in one of your cities soon, but right now, we're going to jump into the news. So let's do it. Let's hit the hot notes.
Hot notes.
All right. The lead story today is something Allison actually tweeted about way back in May of 2021, when she posted, and I quote, senator Collins helped get an $8 million Navy contract for. For Navitech. Then Navitech donated 150,000 to her pack through a shell company and straw donors. Members of her staff knew all about it, by the way. And there's a bonus. Navitech guy was already indicted for bilking taxpayers out of millions in Covid relief. So that's what Allison had already let the public know now, five years later, thanks to ProPublica, were learning that the FBI had opened an investigation into Susan Collins herself after more evidence had come to light. This is from the Hill. Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson criticized his opponent, Senator Susan Collins, saying, and I quote, the jig is up, following a ProPublica corruption report into the senator which her aide calls categorically false. And this is a quote, this is corruption of the highest order. So Susan Collins delivered millions in taxpayer dollars for a corrupt donor bankrolling her campaign and then Donald Trump helped her cover it up. That's what Jackson wrote in a statement. Went on to say, no wonder she voted with him 96% of the time and has rubber stamped his agenda to hurt Maine. Also probably why she put in a fucking Supreme Court justice who was credibly accused of sexual assault by multiple women. Just my two cents. This whole quote went on to say, we deserve answers about every contract and every conversation that Collins and her team facilitated on the backs of taxpayers. The jig is up. Collins deputy chief of staff, this is Annie Clark, responded to the allegations on social media X, which is Twitter calling the report categorically false. Clark said that Collins campaign had, and I quote, cooperated fully with the FBI throughout the investigation during the Biden administration and produced all documents, in fact, witnesses in official settings, in fact witnesses. Okay, I would hope all witnesses are telling the fucking truth. And this is a quote, there have never been any allegations of wrongdoing by the Collins for senator campaign and the campaign was never the target of, the FBI investigation. This is from. Clark went on to say these issues were resolved in 2021 and the FBI has not contacted us about Martin Kao State since then. Well, the ProPublica report concerned a pay to play operation run by Hawaii based defense firm Navitex executives and former CEO Martin Kapp, who is currently in federal prison for Covid relief, wire fraud, money laundering and bank fraud. The report alleged Collins, as chair of the Appropriations Committee gave contracts worth millions of dollars to Navitech. It cited meetings between Call and super PAC that head the super PAC head Scott Reed and Navitech executives at Corner Bakery. Very classy joint to meet by the way, where he solicited payments from the company. In one instance, Cal reportedly sent $150,000 to Collins Super PAC using a shell company, then two months later told Novatech executives that Collins would give the company 32 million in naval contracts. This is why Susan Collins has to fucking go vot out. When Cal was arrested, he told the FBI and Justice Department Public Corruption Investigations team about the scheme, which they were prepared to investigate further until Trump took office in 2025. ProPublica reported that the team responsible for handling Cow's case left or were fired from the agencies for past investigations into Trump. An FBI spokesperson told the Hill that the quote, the allegations made in this article, they had already been investigated by the FBI years ago and ultimately found non nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins's campaign. Any suggestion otherwise is totally false. But it wasn't settled in 2021. Kao was arrested in 2022 and according to ProPublica, in 2022 a grand jury indicted him for making illegal campaign contributions. No one working for Collins was even charged. Facing years in prison, Kao hoped to do less time by revealing the entire scheme. What he told them has never before become public. Over three days at the U.S. attorney's office in Honolulu, Cal laid out in devastating detail how his operation worked. He gave agents a 50 page document naming dozens of lobbyists, congressional staffers and members of Congress who he said helped him trade cash for contracts. Kao and his close associates had donated nearly 900,000 thousand dollars to dozens of politicians, allowing Navitech to establish operations in a half dozen states with over $40 million a year in government funding. Jesus. So for the Trump administration or Susan Collins to say that this was settled in 2021 isn't true? Ka didn't spill the beans until after his 2022 arrest and a broad investigation into Collins and others was opened based on his evidence in 2024. None of this information, by the way, has become public until now. Now that ProPublica hasn't. And this is only their first piece in the series. So buckle up everyone, because this is about to get good. I hope they take Susan Collins down. They can't beat her November, and I hope to God they do. I hope this does. This next story is from the Times. The Trump administration has ejected more than 750,000 thousand enrollees from the Affordable Care act insurance marketplaces. This is what Vice President J.D. vance announced on Tuesday, claiming that many were receiving premium subsidies they did not qualify for and that some were not even real people. And I quote, we're actually making sure that the people receiving Obamacare subsidies are actually entitled to receiving them. That's what JD Said at a news conference. He estimated that removing the Obamacare enrollees would save the government 2.5 billion. The announcement is the latest initiative by an anti fraud task force that Mr. Vance leads and that has often turned its efforts toward federal health care programs. In recent months, the task force had been involved in withholding billions in Medicaid funding from Minnesota and California, contending that the states had not adequately combated fraud. Really, those two states, JB Just those two governors have criticized the Trump administration's anti fraud work as politically motivated, often targeting states with Democratic leadership. JD said the 750,000 people who would lose coverage were a mix of people who either did not meet the eligibility requirements or didn't even exist. The administration plans to do more research on an additional 440,000 people who may also fall into one of these categories. By the way, people who earned more than four times the poverty limit. I want you to hear this number, by the way. That's around $64,000 for a single person. $64,000 is four times the poverty limit in our country. Those people are ineligible for subsidies. But people who earn less than the federal poverty limit, around $16,000 a year, are also ineligible because the lawmakers who wrote Obamacare had intended that such people would obtain health insurance through an mention of Medicaid before the Supreme Court made Medicaid coverage for low income people optional for the states. There is evidence that some such people have enrolled in coverage either because they innocently overestimated their expected income or because a broker coached them to do so. To obtain the coverage, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that there were around 2.3 million such people in 2025. There's also evidence that some brokers illegally sign people up for coverage without their knowledge, though the number of such people is estimated to be substantially lower. During the Biden administration, health officials decertified around 200 brokers after learning that they were engaged in such behavior. The Trump administration recertified those fucking brokers. Last year, researchers from the Government Accountability Office who deliberately tried to mislead marketplace officials were able to complete fraudulent enrollments. But those analysts use aggressive techniques such as submitting forged documents. At the news conference, officials did not allege that individual enrollees were pursuing such strategies. At the news conference as well, they had said that they were using AI AI to find and kick people off their coverage. I guess that's better than the Douche Bros that were part of Dosh. I don't know. I imagine a lot of them trained AI to do whatever job this is doing. So we're going to keep you updated on that. Of course they're calling it Obamacare instead of the Affordable Care act because they want people to have a slant on that. So, all right, the next Story for you is from the Post. The Venezuela man that was shot by an immigration officer in Austin over the weekend was taken to a hospital late Monday after experiencing paralysis on the left side of his body. This is what his lawyers have said. Attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch, who has filed a lawsuit in Texas asking the federal court to order the immediate release of, Wilbur garces Perez from U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement detention and halt his potential deportation to Venezuela. U.S. district Judge Orlando Garcia scheduled an in person hearing for September 30 and ordered that Garces be present, according to court records. Well, he has been transferred from a local hospital to a federal detention facility four hours after he was shot by an ICE officer on Sunday, despite having a bullet still lodged in his back, Lincoln Goldfinch said. This is from the lawyer, by the way. She said doctors chose not to remove it because the bullet was too close to his spine, but argued it was reckless to release him from the hospital that quickly. I hope whatever happens that this person has a lawsuit that they can actually file for the lack of, of action done on, on, on behalf of the ICE officer, not getting this guy to the hospital, releasing him to detention. I just, it's so inhumane. We're going to keep bringing you these stories, but this next story, and I'm just going to give you a warning for sexual assault here. This is from wjtv. The story contains discussions of rape or sexual assault that may be disturbing to some of you. And I understand reader discretion is advised, listener discretion as well. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can find help and resources on the Sexual Assault Hotline, their website or by calling 1-800-656-4673. So there's a live streamer and they're calling. It looks maxing and I think some of you have seen these guys. He's an influencer called Clavicular. He's been charged with rape in Massachusetts. That's according to court records obtained by multiple news outlets. The charges, which were filed against clavicular on September 8, were first reported by the Bulwark. Specific details of the accusations were not immediately available. But Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, who I should be calling him, that, was previously accused of sexual misconduct by a teenage influencer who claimed she was 17 at the time the alleged encounter. She filed a civil lawsuit against Peters, 20 earlier this year, claiming that he engaged in non consensual sex with her at his family's home on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. This is from CBS News. That's what they reported. Now it's not clear whether the charges are related to that lawsuit. A police report reviewed by the New York Times, however, also suggests that Peters charges stem from an alleged incident in May of 2025 at a home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. At the time, a 17 year old girl who spoke with police claims that Peters had supplied her with cups of liquor during one of his live streams and engaged in sex with her after the stream ended despite her inability to consent. That is called rape. This is what the New York Times is reporting. Court records show Peters has been charged with one count of rape, one count of drugging someone for sexual intercourse, and one count of procuring liquor for someone under 21. A representative for Peter, in a statement obtained by NBC News, downplayed the Bulwarks report and claimed that Peters has not physically served an arrest warrant. He's due for an arraignment in Massachusetts on October 14th. That's according to the Times. Peters, who has over 400,000 followers on the streaming platform Kick, has gained attention online for engaging in a practice known as looks maxing concept which entails seeking out extreme and sometimes dangerous methods to increase attractiveness and, and let me say that is absolutely subjective. Earlier this year, detractiveness, not the whole name of Looks macdon. Earlier this year, Peters was also charged in Florida with shooting an alligator. Sounds like a great fucking guy. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to six months of probation and 20 hours of community service. He was also hospitalized in April after a suspected overdose. Clearly a lot going on here, but I hope that if he did indeed rape anyone that he is charged and convicted and and put away for a long time. This next story is from Ms. Now everybody. A federal judge on Monday dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by Stefan Passantino. Stefan's a former lawyer for one time White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson and that's against Ms. Now legal analyst and law professor Andrew Weissman. In a 15 page order, U.S. district Judge Lauren Alicon granted Weissman's motion for judgment on the pleadings in the case Patino brought over based on a September 2023 social media post in which the legal analyst suggested Passantino and I and I quote coach Hutchinson to lie during her closed door deposition before the House January 6th Committee. Alicon ruled that Posantino failed to show that Weisman was negligent because Hutchinson's testimony gave Weisman reasonable grounds to say Posantino had coached her to lie. The ruling effectively ends the lawsuit in federal District Court. Weisman's attorneys Merrill Gavrinsky and Faith Gay praised the ruling in a statement Monday. And they said today's decision serves as an important confirmation that our legal system does not tolerate lawsuits that seek to punish speech protection by the First Amendment to which our client is committed deeply, both as an attorney and journalist. That's what the statement said. A spokesperson for Pasentino did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MsNowsentin, who served as a lawyer. A senior lawyer in the first Trump administration represented at Hutchinson during her first three closed door interviews with this January 6th committee. Hutchinson later changed attorneys because she didn't think her attorney was doing a good fucking job because it was paid for by Trump. And she changed attorneys and provided additional testimony to investigators about her interactions with Posantino. She became well known after her testimony at a televised January 6th committee hearing in June of 2022. Hutchinson told the committee that Passantino had never explicitly instructed her to lie and had told her not to lie. But she also testified that he advised her that saying she did not recall certain events was an acceptable response and that the less she remembered, the better. The January 6 committee later said it had obtained evidence that a lawyer advised a witness she could claim not to remember facts that she actually recalled. Multiple news organizations subsequently identified Posantino as the that lawyer. Weissman, a, former prosecutor on special counsel Robert Mueller's team, wrote on Twitter in September of 2023 that another lawyer was Hutchinson's good lawyer, adding in parentheses, not the one who coached her to lie. Passantino sued days later, alleging Weissman's post, and I quote, deeply damaged his 30 year reputation and caused him to lose significant business and income. Okay, I'm sure that has nothing to do with also being one of Trump's people. All right, everyone.
Ah.
Next, Allison discusses community and midterms with the women of Red Wine and Blue. Right after this quick break. Stick around. We'll be right back after these messages.
We'll be right back.
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Welcome back. I am m so excited today for those that were able to make it to our Chicago gala and got to meet our next two guests from the incredible organization known as Red wine and Blue. We have them back today. Director of distributed organizing, Missy McGinnis and founder of Red Wine and Blue, Katie Paris. Hi, guys. How is it going?
Hello. Thanks for having us today.
Hey, Alison.
So good to be here.
It's so good to see you again. It's good to see your shining faces. We haven't seen you since, I think since June when we all met up in Chicago.
I know.
That was such a great event.
Thank you. I was so glad that you guys can make it. It's so important. We are in a partnership. We're doing some great, amazing things. And I wanted to talk a little bit about what Red Wine and Blue is doing to get out the vote this election season.
There's an election.
I know.
What?
it's. Oh, that's the thing. In, like, seven weeks.
Yeah, it started this week. Ballots started going out this week. I remember waking up the day after the election in 2024 and thinking how far down the road this day was and it is at our door. So talk a little bit. First of all, remind everybody what y' all do at, Red Wine and Blue.
Yeah, Red Wine and Blue has been going for about seven years now, but we really kind of started going on hyperdrive a few years ago and have grown into a community of over 650,000 women nationally. That includes over 700 women local groups through the Red Wine and Blue network, which Missy runs and does such an amazing job. I can't wait for her to share some stories about wet women on the ground, the good trouble they're causing day in and day out. And so Red Wine and Blue has really grown into this community of women organizing together. We like to say that we get shit done and we have fun along the way. You know, I called it Red Wine and Blue because I wanted to set us apart as a different kind of political group. You know, we don't take ourselves too seriously. Wine is certainly not required. You can put whatever you damn well please in that wine glass. But we want you to show up, be together Prioritize one another and, hey. And even sometimes your kids show up. Okay, guys, I'm on the middle of this, okay? Hi, Julian.
Hi.
All right. You know, and that's okay, too. Sometimes the kids come home from school and maybe you're having a meeting, and that's okay, too.
It's illustrative of what you're all about. As a matter of fact, it is.
We're recording this just after 3 o'.
Clock.
I should have put a sign on the door or something, but Missy is used to the kids popping in on my meeting.
Amazing. Missy, talk a little bit about, you know, the organizing that,
Sure, sure.
That Katie was referring to.
Yeah.
So at Red Wine and Blue, I
lead the Red Wine and Blue Network,
which is our national grassroots organizing program. And we help local grassroots groups get started, grow, and strengthen. And we started. We actually just turned three this week, which is so exciting.
Happy birthday.
Happy birthday to us. and we started three years ago with 20 groups that were part of our pilot program. And today we have well over 700 groups. They're all across the country. We even have a few that are Americans living abroad who are trying to make a difference, in their elections. Here, you know, what we do is, like, as Katie mentioned, we really try to make this very serious work as fun as possible, because women come back when they find community and connection and they feel like they're making a difference. And that's what these groups are all about. They're building community, they're serving their communities, pushing back against extremism, and ultimately making a difference in these elections. And so right now we are hyper focused on, the November elections.
Yeah, that community part is so important. It's so integral. People were so hungry for it after, especially after 2024, and then especially after 2020 when we, you know, we kind of lost our communities and had to find, each other virtually. I know that the community that we've built with the daily beans pod going back to Mueller, she wrote, is a massive, incredible, like, totally unintended consequence, but now, like, kind of the whole point of it. Talk a little bit about this community and it's. I mean, as Missy was pointing out, it's exploded in the last three years from 20 to over 700 groups. What's that like for the members of that community and why is that important?
You know, I think every year at, Red Wine and Blue, it feels like a new chapter unfolds in terms of why we need community so much. And I would argue that right now it's combined with just the high stakes, everyone feeling like this election matters so much once again, that we have to have a huge backlash to the 2024 election. We need to make it at least as big, hopefully bigger than what we saw in 2018 in response to the 2016 election. But right now, we're operating in a new environment yet again, with AI everywhere creating this sense, I think, of, greater disconnection than ever. It is possible to go through our days and do so many things and interact with technology in, you know, like, even at the grocery store, you know, the way checkouts are done there. When we're, looking for answers online, there are things engaging with us, but they're meant to feel like humans, but they're not humans, you know? And so I think we're just so desperate more than ever for that human connection. And so what's so cool to me is that combined through the Red Wine and Blue organizers on our team and all of the leaders in of the groups, within the local network that Missy oversees with the Red, White, and Blue network, we held, it was an average of 11 events a day, and most of. Almost all of those were in person last year. To me, that is such a testament for what people are hungry for, and we're seeing it again and again this year. So I think that we lean in to what people are asking for, what they're hungry for, and also in that moment, they're seeking. They want to do something, but they don't want to do it alone. They want to do it together. Both because they want to be strategic, and they know that collective impact is the greatest impact, but also because they're looking for a way of doing something that doesn't empty them out. They want to be filled up, and we really can't do that solo. So I think that might have a lot to do with why we love our jobs. Like, just being a part of that, witnessing that day in and day out, it keeps me going. I know I need it bad.
I need that stuff bad to keep me going.
Because we are in the midst of, obviously just a shit show of a news cycle. So women are doing something about it, and they're doing it together.
Yeah. Let's talk about this upcoming election, Missy, and what y' all are doing on the ground with Red Wine and Blue to help get out the vote. Because that's kind of what the no Kings guys did, right? They built this massive community, and then they mobilized it to vote. And, you know, we do that here with the Leguminati and the Daily Beans listeners. We build this massive community and then we use it to support, like, our LGBTQ and immigrant communities and things like that. And so now that you've got this amazing group of women who are filled up by the community and getting something done, what is the get out the vote, like push looking like this midterm cycle?
Yeah. So through election day, we are encouraging our groups to do what we know is the most effective thing they can do, which is to get their members to have conversations with the people they already know about the election, the issues that matter to them, the candidates who share their values and do they have a plan to vote in the November election. And that is truly the most powerful thing that we can do. Like our data, and Katie can go into some of the numbers even more than I can, but show that we have like 5 to 10% impact on getting out the vote. But just by having those connections, and if you compare that to other traditional forms of political organizing where candidates and campaigns will spend millions of dollars to move the needle, 1 or 2%, these are powerful numbers. And so that really works. And, something that we're doing through our network is, the groups now have the chance to actually earn funds, for their organizing efforts by actually doing these and encouraging their groups to have conversations, committing to have them, and following through on that. And so each group is able to do that for the first time that we've been able to offer them the, opportunity.
That's incredible. Talk about that data a little bit more. Katie like that impact of talking to somebody personally. And she's pointing to her shirt.
My sweatshirt says relational organizing. It is the coziest sweatshirt I own. And relational organizing in many ways is the coziest form of outreach. Right. We are reaching out to the people that we know about voting. But this is not just a cozy, nice to have thing in elections. It is a must have and it is an advantage that we have over the right at this point, unequivocally. So we do know that relational organizing, or friend to friend outreach is about 12 times more effective than even the most effective door knocking programs. This is for two reasons. Contact rates at the doors, through phone banking, any of the traditional methods where strangers contact strangers. The contact rates go down every election cycle. When you get someone to answer the door. When we're canvassing, often it's a conversation through a nest cam. You know, it is just very hard to get people to actually open that door. It is hard to get people to answer the phone. They're screening their calls. So meanwhile, if I'm reaching out to people I know, if anyone is reaching out to people they know, the chances of someone getting back to you are at its lowest. 80%. That is what all the studies show. So you're taking your contact rate from 15% up to 80% just there. Then combine that with the fact that a conversation with someone, who you trust when the people are already in a trusted relationship because you know them, even if it's just a little bit someone that you know through a friend of a friend you know, or that friend who goes to the same doctor, or you know, they're your kids, play in the same soccer league, whatever, that conversation is going to be at least two and a half times more effective. All of this stuff has been studied. So we are talking about doing friend to friend outreach is at least 12 times more effective than any other form of outreach. So we do this because it works and we really want to win. And women really don't have a lot of spare time. So if we're going to ask for your time, we're going to use it efficiently, we're going to use it effectively, and we are going to 12 times that impact. So that is why we are going all in on relational organizing. We also know that Republicans are really behind on this. there was reporting recently that they realize that they're behind and at their peril, but they haven't gotten it together. So when I've got an advantage, that's when I really want to lean in. So we've got the network to do it, and we are all in on relational organizing. We are targeting more candidates in more races than we ever have this year. And in large part, that has to do because of the muscle that we have through the red, white and blue network that Missy's been building with her team over the last few years is, enabling us to get active in more places with these friend to friend networks. And it's just so exciting to me. I mean, Allison, I used to work in D.C. where people would just like, sit around conference tables and be like, how do we tap into these networks of women living in these suburbs? You know, like, how do we possibly. And now it's just like, well, we do it by, like, I call Missy and then she calls Susan and then babe, you know, we activate the phone
tree a la, Practical magic is what we do.
Yes, exactly. It all comes back to practical magic, doesn't it?
Let's clean house. All right, Missy. I've watched that Movie a few times, in case you haven't noticed. Talk a little bit about what we knew. We talked about getting out the vote this election cycle. If there's anything else you want to say about that, please do. And then talk about the future of Red Wine and blue, where we're going. Because 2028 is right up the road, right?
Yeah. So, I can speak about the Red Wine Blue Network in our future. I mean, we have 700 groups now. I hope by 2028, we have 1500 to 2000 groups. I want to have red one and blue networks in every community across the country. And that's the plan that we're building, too. But I think Katie can probably talk a little bit more to the future of Red wine and blue.
What has surprised me so much about Red wine and blue is how we grow organically and strategically. At the same time, there has been red, white and blue. I started it in the suburbs with suburban women because those are sort of the last purple places in America. Right. These very swing districts, whether it is a local race or a state, or a congressional race. As Red Wine and blue has grown, we now have groups that are not just in suburban areas, but also exurban areas, also into rural areas areas. And that is so important strategically in a year like this, where more districts are reachable, more districts are winnable than I think anyone would have predicted a year ago. And yet, because of this organic growth here, we are positioned to be in these places and to have real capacity to help win in places that we got to win these elections and not just for the sake of winning. This is so not a game to the communities in which we work. There are kids and schools and families. Lives were at stake. Their healthcare, their public education. And that's what I love about what we do, too, that we're not here just for the election. We work year round. we will be holding these. Whoever gets elected will be holding them accountable. Not every politician that we're going to vote for. we agree with them on everything. They may not be our very favorite people, but we know that they will listen to us because of how hard we work in these elections. So I'm going to continue to. Yes, we have our strategic plans, but I'm going to keep listening to the women in our communities and in these local groups in the Red Wine and Blue Network because they haven't led us astray yet. And I feel like I got a whole lot smarter as someone who works in politics. As soon as I left Washington, D.C. and the more I can lead by listening and staying connected to the women out here. Instead of a consultant, I might hire, out of the Beltway. I think we're going to be on the right track.
Well, leading by listening, it's why Mamdani, ran such a fantastic campaign. His policies aside, he asked the voters, what do you need from me? Instead of telling him what he was going to do building this podcast network, I was like, tell me what you want as a podcast listener, what you need, what you are looking for. And I've based the whole show and the whole, like, I don't know if a lot of people know this, but the, the way that the show goes with the headlines in the beginning and then the deeper dive and then the interview and then the good news at the end, that is all on purpose and specifically built around what people want out of their news podcasts. And so that listening is so crucial. And I think it's amazing you bring up these other parts of town, like ex urban areas. Missy, you yourself, I think you live very close to where I was born.
I do. I think we actually grew up in the same town, Little Talmadge, Ohio. but now I live up outside Cleveland. so very much a, ah, suburban area. But yeah, our network groups, they're everywhere. I mean, most of, I think more than half of them are in what you'd call a suburban area. But that means that there's like almost half of them are, you know, rural, ex urban or urban. And they want to be here too. And they still, they have women living in those communities who want to build community. And they're looking for a lot of the same things.
So that's why it was, well, let's see. Willow Springs Estates, outside of Talmadge. It was almost rural. We had a lake in our backyard. we were a little community of a few houses, maybe a couple miles from Monroe High School or Monroe's Middle School, but also across the street were cornfields and farms. But I remember my mom getting together with all of the women in the neighborhood. And back then it was stuffing envelopes, wasn't it? and I would sit there and help lick stamps and close envelopes and we would, you know, have. She would have these massive political communities. these communities are everywhere. They're absolutely everywhere. And I think that it's. I'm sure it's probably more suburban now than rural than when I was born there in the 70s, but that it just goes to show you why that sort of outreach Is so important. People are everywhere wanting to help.
Is your mom still at it today? Allison?
She runs a little tiny club back, actually, it was called. What was it? Republicans for Biden and then Republican Women for Joe Biden. She hasn't been a Republican since the 80s, but she still uses. She still uses that to. To get women together. Yeah, it's hilarious. But, yeah, no, she's still at it. She still networks, she still makes calls. She's the reason I am, why I like, why this is why I'm like this.
I mean, that's very.
She dragged me to the polls when I was like 6 years old, and she. I remember she looked me right in the face and she said, no man can tell me what to do in there.
There.
Yes.
I love it.
Did she still live in the same place?
No, she's, moved to drier climes than in the Midwest, as many have migrated to Arizona.
Okay.
I'm just.
I'm in recruitment mode. I think it would be amazing to get your mom, you know, to maybe have a Red Wine and Blue network.
Well, speaking of that, tell everybody how easy it is to set up a Red Wine and Blue network where you are if you don't have one.
Yeah.
So super easy. Just visit the Red Wine and Blue website and, go to. Go local, and then you can find our local groups. You can plug in your zip code and you can find. See if there's a group near you, if somebody's maybe not ready to start. And if there is not a group near you, or if there is not a group that fits you that's near you, we would love to help you get one started. and our team helps, everybody who applies every step of the way. We have a, A really strong, robust, like, first few months program, new group orientation, direct connection with one of our organizers. We couldn't, make it any easier. And that's really, like, so many of our groups started by just an individual trying to do exactly what I just described. Just coming on, not really sure, like, I really want to make a difference. I don't really know how. And boom, some of them have many hundreds of members now, and they are just kicking butt. And so it's truly amazing to see. You know, we've talked about the growth of the program, but, like, what I love seeing the most is, like, the group, the growth of these leaders and, like, the confidence that they have gotten and just the difference that they are making in their communities. It's really quite amazing.
Yeah. The Red Wine and Blue to run for something. Pipeline is well underway, I think, very much.
M. We have so many, so m. Many group members, leaders, who are now candidates. It's. It's quite amazing.
Yeah. Hundreds of run for office. I think there's close to 200 on the ballot this year. Yeah, but we don't do the candidate training because you're exactly right. We're sort of like the pipeline to the pipeline. So we pass them off to run for something. And all these other local groups that
do the candidate training.
Two other amazing women training people to run for office.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
And those organizations who we've spoken to here on the beans as well. It all boils down to the community. Thank you all so much for joining us today. I so much look forward to, you know, moving into the future, getting out the vote this time with the help of Red Wine and Blue and the Leguminati. And then also in the future, I know you've got a lot in store, so once again, tell everyone where they can find and follow you and get more information.
Go to Red Wine Blue, that's our website. And then you can find us from there. So very easy. And hopefully in the show notes, we can include the link. We're happy to provide that to you.
Yep, yep. We'll include a link in the show notes. Redwine, Blue.
Blue. Yes.
That's so cool that you guys got the dot Blue. All right, thank you so much. we really appreciate you stopping by and all the work that you do. Katie Paris, Missy McInnis, it's wonderful to speak to you.
Thank you. Thanks so much, Allison.
Everybody, stick around. We'll be right back with the good news.
All right, everyone, it is time for the good news.
Who likes good news?
Everyone?
Then good news, everyone.
Good news, good news. Welcome back, everybody. Thank you for joining me. Allison will be back tomorrow. I'm flying solo in the captain's chair. But this is your good news. Confessions, Corrections, assholes of the Senate. There are so many of them. We love your misheard lyrics, your wooby stories, shared swears, find the cat, all of those things. If you have anything. The good news picks are at the bottom, by the way, of the show notes of each Patreon episode. That's just one of the perks for subscribing and becoming a patron. And if you do have any good news, please send it to dailybeans.com good to submit your good news. All right, we're going to get started, as we always do, with some good trouble. Jess Craven at chop wood, carry water. And we're gonna have a link directly to Jess Craven's writings. This one is take the big swing Challenge. Okay? And this is a quote. Six weeks until election day. Good lord. That's not what that says. That was just me. Six weeks until election day. The midterm elections will have resounding consequences for 2028, 2030 and beyond. Defeating Maga at the ballot box this year is doable, but the final outcome will be up to us if we win. And how big will depend on each of us doing our part, including folks who have never canvassed or phone banked before. Which is why Swing Left announced the Big Swing Challenge. The Big Swing Challenge invites everyone to commit to taking action, set a personal goal, and then take your biggest swing by stepping out of your comfort zone and talking with as many voters as possible. We're going to give you a place to sign up up. It's going to be right here in the show notes and they'll point you toward canvasing, phone banking, letter writing or amplifying candidates on social media. That is your good trouble for today. I hope that you will click on this link in our show notes and get started. Go take a big swing, everybody. This is what our listeners do. And one of our listeners. This is Danielle chasing Oz pronoun she herself. Earlier this summer, I learned my daughter's friend's dad was detained by ice. He's a dreamer that was brought to the US at nine years old. His wife had tried to handle it all on her own without telling anyone and drained their life savings. When I learned what was going on, I activated my online community for good. I told you Danielle was one of these good troublemakers. Friday he was flown home from ICE detention in Los Angeles despite being taken from from Florida. And he finally has been reunited with his family, including five children. it has helped to restore my faith in the world knowing that there were so many good humans that jumped to help his family merely because I asked. This is absolutely awesome. Danielle. Nice job on the good trouble. Next up for Bob, no pronouns given. I had the pleasure of introducing myself to officer Harry Dunn this weekend at ah an event in Phoenix, Arizona. He made a great speech on on the character of our country. You're right, he's very tall, Bob. He is very tall, but he gives the best hugs. Trust me, it's worth it. Next up from Laura pronoun she her them shout out to my husband greg on our 25th anniversary. Happy 25th anniversary, Laura and Greg. All I can say is what the fuck? But somehow we kept on muddling through. I was going to share pics of us before and after, but instead I'm sharing this asshole otherwise known as Evelyn. I know that's probably not the right way to say it, but my brain's malfunctioning. She's a bit entitled and rather loud. By the way, thanks for throwing a, like on my contribution to your Blue Sky Cash Bestiality Meme. Oh, Cash's Bestiality Meme post. I got 156 likes for quote. I never thought the leopards would eat my ass. Keep up the good work. Oh, my God. I wonder. That belly looks like, like the whole sleeping looks like a trap. And the belly looks like a trap. That is a big kitty and a beautiful kitty. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much. All right, next up from Kelly Pronoun. She and her hello, lovely ladies. If you like super cuteness, you must see the mini Highland cows and the babies along with other adorableness at Fluffy Feather Farm. I love Highland cows, but these little ones are just over the top.
Look at this.
This says don't leave. Hi. Come here. I love Highland cows. I think they're beautiful. We're going to have a link to their Facebook page in our show. Notes for my pet tags. First, are my two rescued blanks. Oh, my God, these are so cute. Since Allison's not with me, I'm just going to guess that they're French bulldogs. They have to be Frenchies.
What do we have?
They are French bulldogs. First, my two rescue French bulldogs. Both were released from breeders for being imperfect. Mateo is floppy eared and Stella has a front three fourth leg, which is why she's in the carriage next to Mata volunteering with his favorite resident at the senior living center we visit. Yes, he's a big boy being 1/3 Maine coon. Holy cow. That cat looks bigger than the sweet man at the senior living. This is amazing. That's a big cat and two adorable bulldogs. Thank you so very, much, Kelly. All right, next up from Anonymous and a former fed. No pronouns given. Jambo hello in Swahili from somewhere over Russia as I head back to reality after three weeks on safari in Kenya and Tanzania. I'm so jealous. I'll be honest, I didn't quite manage to not check on the news, but I tried. Lord knows I tried to ignore the world world. Knowing how much you love baby animals. I thought of both of you when we saw baby elephants and zebras, warthogs and lion cubs. But I thought of you when straight out of the gate we saw real live uncaged secretary birds. They're more beautiful and magnificent than expected. It's a beautiful world out there and I encourage everyone to step outside and look around. I'm extremely lucky and blessed to see Africa and meet some of my wonderful people, but I'm going to see my own backyard differently after this trip. Anonymous these are awesome. Yeah, safari is definitely on my my bucket list. I gotta make it there one day. I'm gonna rent a big ass camera and bring also a ah, not a big ass camera because I've had some people on safari, some of my friends that only brought the big lens and some of these cubs came so close that they were too close for their lens to get. So if you ever do that and you get a big lens, make sure you also have your cell phone handy because these new cell phones, they take really damn good pictures. All right, next up from Carly Pronouns she and her Dear AG and dg I've been wanting to write in for some time now, but I put it off because I don't want to make it a self shout out, but more of a shout out to a nonprofit I was lucky enough to work for. Healing Wave Aquatics is a 501c3 nonprofit located in San Diego that focuses on mental health and trauma through aquatic therapy. The aquatic Therapy program is designed to support veterans and active duty members with eight weeks of individual customized sessions. They also offer the eight week program to first responders and a four week program is offered to caregivers of said individuals. To qualify, you must provide proof of service or required documentation and a diagnosis of ptsd. Patrons of the Veteran program often report PTS symptoms reduced after the eight weeks, including but not limited to depression, insomnia, nightmares and terrors, hypervigilance, anxiety, the list goes on and on. Trauma doesn't have to be combat or military related. We also work with patrons who suffer from tbi, MST and personal life traumas. There are very little contraindications to this work, meaning it's applicable to just about anyone and it benefits most medical conditions. As an aquatic practitioner, I've had the honor of working with veterans from Vietnam, Gulf War, oef, OIF and everything in between. It was an honor and a joy to work for Healing Waves and my time came to an end last spring when my Navy family PCs to Guam. You can learn more about them and support their work@healingwaveaquatics.org we're gonna have a link in the show notes. They also offer Paid sessions to the public. Everybody, thank you for all that you do keeping us sane during sane time. Podpet tax is my two fruit babies that are 16 and 14. Despite them being two totally different breeds. I'm often asked if they are from the same litter. I never know how to respond. Bella the little is 15. She's a blank blank mix. And Duke the big boy is 13 and a blank. They are best friends and as young as the day we got them. Duke's breed often have jobs and Duke's job is the prism Frisbee. He scouts one out everywhere he goes, often rummaging through people's garages until he finds one. Therefore, Frisbee is considered the F word in my house and is not allowed to be said inside. Keep up the cursing. We fucking love it. I don't think these dogs look like they're from the same breed and the 15 year old looks like a terrier mix, but I'm not sure with what it. We've got a Pappy on terrier mix. And Duke the big boy. That one looks a little clearer to me. I'm going to go with a border collie. Look at that, a border collie. That one, it could have gone many ways, but they're both so cute and they're both soaked and wet. Dogs are adorable. All right, thank you so, so much for that. We're going to have links to that in the show notes and Carly, that's a great self shout out and a great shout out to this nonprofit. I'm loving it. Next up, from Robert. Not Bob. Very specifically, not Bob. From Robert. Pronouns, he and him. Hiya. I just wanted to send a quick note to say thanks and that I'm so glad for all that you do at the beans to help navigate the straight of cruel stupidity this administration is dragging us all through. It seems that other networks are remembering the first Amendment and standing in solidarity with cnn, msnow and Paluco, and they have removed themselves from the press as a result. There was a wonderfully brief Newsmax video clip of Trump flapping his yap at some photo op with no audio included. Robert, there was, and we showed it to you on the beans talk yesterday. It was glorious. It inspired me to throw together a quick meme to celebrate even a temporary silence of the mad king. Also, in your recent breakdown episode with Katie Fang, you talked about getting matching jackets for Todd Blanche gang of club and I, wanted to offer a reminder to make sure that the collars never fit in the back of the neck. Blanche is so crooked. I don't think I've ever seen a photo of him where his collar properly lays flat in the back. I have two POD pics to send your way today. The first is the Trump meme. And the second is a tardigrade playing the absolute world's smallest violin. A tardigrade playing the absolute smallest violin. For all of the sad trombone whining that Blanche keeps bringing to the court. Court. Keep up the good work, Robert. This is awesome. The meme. What Trump has said is unimportant and we do not hear his words. I agree. Nice. We got Star Trek there. Okay, that is hysterical. This tardigrade playing the Absolut minus violin. I love science. I love when art meets science. That's super cute. I never enjoy the good news as much without my co host, Alison. It's very strange reading these and sort of just like enjoying them by yourself. I know I'm enjoying one with you, but when Allison and I can work off of each other, it's just so much more lovely. So, unfortunately, I'm going to be out tomorrow when Allison comes back, but I've got that gig in Chicago, at the Den Theater. And then the night after, I will be hosting a gala for an organization called Gender Cool. And it does celebrate incredible champions, our transgender youth that are thriving in this country. But this organization needs our help more than ever. So I'm about to go raise a lot of money with them Thursday night. And that's it. That's the beans for September 23rd. And Allison will be back with us tomorrow. But until then, 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. Again, Allison will be back tomorrow. I'm your host, dg. And then it's the Beans. And that was the weirdest sign off ever, but we're going with it.
The Daily Beans is written and executive produced by Allison Gill with additional research and reporting by Dana Gold. 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 msw media.com msw media.