The Dispatch

Content note: this episode includes discussion of child sexual abuse.
The Dispatch is The Mayday Network’s rapid response show covering the stories we think you should care about. Michelle Kinney and Julie Roginsky react to the ad from Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign for Ohio governor that features Democratic nominee Amy Acton’s estranged mother, and to Ramaswamy’s decision to put four million dollars behind it. They walk through Acton’s story in her own words, her brother’s rebuttal ad, J.D. Vance’s response to reporters, and a resurfaced Ramaswamy clip mocking his opponent. Then Michelle takes a step back to show how campaigns got here, from Lee Atwater’s 1981 interview and Reagan’s “welfare queen” to the Willie Horton ad, the Max Cleland attack, and the Swift Boat ads. Michelle and Julie, who have both made negative ads, talk about the line they won’t cross and why it matters for both parties. They also play James Talarico’s hopeful Texas ad as a contrast, and close with new polling, voting reminders, and what’s coming next on The Mayday Network.
0:00 Welcome0:42 The Ramaswamy ad and how we got here1:34 Content note2:34 Julie on Roger Ailes, Willie Horton, and the road to today4:24 Who Amy Acton is6:15 Who Vivek Ramaswamy is9:41 The ad10:47 What the ad leaves out, and Acton’s brother responds12:36 Amy Acton responds13:52 Julie on ads that backfire, and on parenting19:07 J.D. Vance’s response to reporters20:33 A resurfaced Ramaswamy clip25:56 Context on the arrest warrant and the sheriff who signed it26:58 Pritzker, Megyn Kelly, and the reaction35:42 How the ad was tested, and how it leaked36:27 Michelle and Julie on making attack ads and where they draw the line39:32 Lee Atwater’s 1981 interview42:35 Reagan and the “welfare queen”46:07 The Willie Horton ad48:30 Max Cleland and the 2002 Georgia Senate race54:41 The Swift Boat Veterans ads against John Kerry57:08 Julie on Fox News, Swift Boat, and who spoke up1:06:50 Excusing bad behavior on your own side1:09:26 James Talarico’s Texas ad1:15:37 “The white hoods are in the window display”1:16:44 Trump at 34 percent, and the Texas Senate polling1:17:19 Voting reminders1:19:25 Program notes: Ken Harbaugh on Pax Americana, and what’s next
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Part of The Mayday Network, an independent, women-led independent media where politics meets culture.

Recorded live on Tuesday September 29, 2026 -- Julie Roginsky and Michelle Kinney are joined by Ben Lazarus, one of the best Democratic pollsters in the country, for real hopium about the midterms. Ben explains why a red wave is off the table, how a collapse in Republican turnout could make the blue wave much bigger, and why Trump's numbers are softening even among his own base.
They dig into why polling is so hard, how pollsters account for voters who won't take surveys, and why data centers have become a potent issue in some of the reddest parts of the country. Then it's a lightning round on Michigan, Minnesota, and Texas, plus a case for funding state legislative races, where every dollar goes furthest. Julie and Michelle close with the Cornell case (more on this later) and the Joe Biden story in The Atlantic.
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Support our friend and grassroots activist Blue Moreno, who flies all around the country every election season to knock doors in crucial races: https://bluemoreno.com/hats
The Mayday Network is an independent, women-led independent media where politics meets culture.0:19 Welcome and intro1:04 Ben's midterm outlook: is a blue wave coming?6:36 Why polling is so hard15:04 Trump's softening support among Republicans19:30 Gas prices and swing districts22:00 Does money still matter?27:45 Why data centers are a political problem35:00 Voter distrust of both parties42:55 Finding the "double haters"47:00 The horseshoe effect and 202850:10 Lightning round: Michigan, Minnesota, Texas1:02:04 Blue Moreno hats and voting reminders1:04:40 The Cornell case1:11:20 Joe Biden in The Atlantic

Breaking: the Supreme Court just sided with the Trump administration, reviving DHS's flawed SAVE database and letting states use it to challenge and purge voters — including naturalized citizens — right as early voting is already underway in contested Senate races across North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Alaska, and Kansas. Julie Roginsky and Michelle Kinney break down what just happened, why it's timed for maximum midterm chaos, and the one thing you need to know if you show up to vote and get told you're not eligible: ask for a provisional ballot, and do not leave until you get it.
The Dispatch airs live — new episodes every week on The Mayday Network YouTube channel, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Timestamps:0:00 Breaking: SCOTUS sides with Trump admin on voter database1:56 What the SAVE database ruling actually allows3:06 Why the timing hits swing-state Senate races right now4:29 Julie: the Court is "the in-house general counsel for the Republican National Committee"8:29 What to do if you're told you're not eligible to vote: demand a provisional ballot

Ellie Leonard joins The Mayday Network to discuss latest scoop from The Guardian on Brendan Carr's Sex Cult past. https://substack.com/@redpencilscript
Per The Guardian, Trump's FCC Chair Brendan Carr — who is only 47, despite looking like he's been drafting broadcast regulations since the Reagan administration — spent nearly a decade, starting at age 17, inside a rogue Washington D.C. Alcoholics Anonymous group called Midtown. At the center of it was Michael Quinones, described by one former member as "the Epstein of AA."
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2026/sep/22/fcc-chair-brendan-carr-midtown-aa-group
Brendan Carr, a MAGA extremist, has famously  threatened to withdraw broadcasters’ licenses over news coverage that he finds "unfair" to Donald Trump. One former member of the cult said “A man who has the power to control what types of stories the mainstream public have access to is a man who should expect the narrative of his own life to fall under scrutiny.
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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Intro +Welcome  Ellie Leonard0:46 – Setting up Brendan Carr and why the FCC chair matters1:25 – The "Midtown" AA group: sex cult allegations4:00 – The French fry story: Carr as the group's "safe space"4:32 – Parallels to Scientology and other high-control groups9:41 – The real issue: sneaking fries treated as heroism, not complicity10:38 – Epstein parallel: staff who saw abuse and stayed silent14:33 – How addiction, isolation, and coercion made girls vulnerable22:35 – Quinones's own words: the group leader's predatory quote24:38 – Age-of-consent loophole allegedly exploited across state lines27:44 – The moral case against Carr: sin of omission29:32 – Carr's need for approval and his LSAT breakdown story31:53 – MAGA as a replacement structure for his cult past36:32 – Why community/belonging drives cult and MAGA adjacency44:11 – Trump's naming obsession as a parallel authoritarian pattern50:33 – Why this story isn't over — more accusers likely55:16 – Personal stories: Ellie and Julie on normalized abuse growing up59:16 – The arts/modeling pipeline and how predators used access as bait1:11:07 – Christine Blasey Ford and the cost of speaking first1:14:38 – Closing: Ellie's Substack, sign-off

The FBI just got hacked. Kash Patel's in Moscow doing shots. And Macron just told the world "no one is safe." We break it all down.
To this community we've built here — especially today, thank you. Times like these are heavy, and having a place to process it with people who actually get it means more than you know. This show exists entirely because of you — no network, no corporate backing, just an audience that shows up, chips in, and believes independent media covering this moment matters. Every tip and subscription goes straight back into keeping this thing running: the tools, the platforms, the unglamorous stuff it takes to put a show up every single day. We built this with you, and we're so grateful you're here.
The FBI got hacked — and not by a nation-state looking for money. A group called ShinyHunters (usually financially motivated, but not this time) breached the Bureau and is now sitting on agents' names, home addresses, phone numbers, and their spouses' information. No ransom demand, no clear ask — just full exposure of the people investigating everyone from the mob to Russian and Iranian sleeper cells, while Director Kash Patel is off doing shots and chugging beer with hockey players, headed to Moscow two weeks before an election, having previously taken $25K to star in a Kremlin-friendly documentary calling the Russia investigation a hoax.
We trace how the US ended up this exposed: the early-2025 gutting of CISA, a week that included a DOJ-charged Russian assassination network on American soil, NATO shooting down a drone over Lithuania, a Russian warship flaring a Danish military helicopter, Emmanuel Macron warning the world "no one is safe," and drones shutting down Luxembourg's airport — home to NATO's Ukraine supply hub.
Then: Trump's full UN General Assembly speech — confronting CNN's Kaitlan Collins on arrival, rebranding "artificial intelligence" to "Super Intelligence," threatening to "annihilate" Iran, and getting stone silence where he expected applause.
The Mayday Network is fully independent and listener-funded — every subscription and tip covers the real cost of putting this show out every single day. Thank you for making that possible.
 
TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Intro1:08 – FBI hacked by ShinyHunters: agents' homes, families exposed4:00 – "Completely incompetent": Cory Booker's exchange with Kash Patel11:38 – Kash Patel's $25K Kremlin-friendly documentary payment15:50 – Trump TV launches; CNN, MSNBC, Politico banned from WH17:20 – How this admin gutted cybersecurity from day one (CISA breakdown)19:45 – Why this matters: power grids, water systems, "Leave the World Behind"20:40 – Newark & Philly airports grounded — coincidence?22:00 – NATO, Poland, Lithuania warn of Russian hybrid war25:00 – DOJ charges Russian assassination network operating in the US32:00 – NATO shoots down drone over Lithuania; Russian frigate flares Danish chopper36:00 – Germany's Merz: "Russia is waging war against the West"41:00 – Poland's Tusk warns of false-flag attacks testing NATO43:00 – Macron's classified briefing: "No one is safe"48:00 – Switzerland overhauls its security strategy50:00 – Drones shut down Luxembourg's airport — NATO's Ukraine supply hub53:00 – Undersea cables: the vulnerability nobody's talking about1:00:00 – Trump's DC "Arc": storing weapons and snipers, because sure1:08:20 – Trump at the UN: confronts Kaitlan Collins on arrival1:09:00 – Trump rebrands "AI" to "Super Intelligence"1:12:00 – Trump on Iran: "annihilate" vs. rebuild1:15:00 – Trump vs. the ICC1:21:00 – Cuba delegation walks out of UN speech1:27:00 – "I have made peace": the room that didn't applaud1:30:00 – Closing thoughts: Gaia art installation at St. John the Divine

JD Vance, Peter Thiel, and the Hillary Clinton backchannel nobody knew about — breaking down Chris Whipple's bombshell Vanity Fair piece "God and Vance at Yale."
Michelle Kinney digs into the new reporting on JD Vance's Yale Law years, his relationship with mentor Amy Chua, how his wife Usha outshone him academically at every turn, the shocking revelation that Vance privately tried to help Hillary Clinton beat Trump in 2016, and how Peter Thiel engineered Vance's entire political rise. Plus: why Trump may not let Vance survive to 2028.
TIMESTAMPS:00:00 – Intro, welcome back from Breaking the News00:43 – Topic intro: JD Vance01:26 – Whipple's "God and Vance at Yale" (Vanity Fair) introduced02:56 – Michelle's take: "very cynical about JD Vance"03:27 – Why Yale sources were afraid to speak on record04:20 – Amy Chua closeness (WHCD text story)04:58 – Chua background (Tiger Mom, Yale mentor, immigrant parallel)06:57 – "Empty shell" / Talented Mr. Ripley comparison07:25 – "Craven opportunist? Yes" verdict; Chua "full of shit"08:07 – Usha introduced, compared to Hillary Clinton08:26 – Julie joins09:52 – "Chilly fish" quote10:15 – "Doesn't believe in anything" / Marine Corps PR background10:42 – Peter Thiel enters the story12:32 – "Daddy" / Thiel as the seminal figure in his life17:25 – Hillary Clinton backchannel story setup18:06 – "I hate Hillary, but I hate Trump more" quote19:03 – Prediction: Trump will destroy him before he can be nominee19:21 – Trump 2028 gift-shop hat anecdote20:33 – Deep dive: Silicon Valley–DC–Hungary–Kremlin network21:00 – Peter Thiel background (PayPal, 2016 RNC, "Antichrist")23:12 – Rockbridge Network and Chris Buskirk introduced27:01 – Buskirk's backstory (debt, dry cleaner lawsuits)31:10 – 2019 Rockbridge summit attendees32:09 – Catholic conversion / Opus Dei ties33:10 – Ad clip #1: "JD Vance thinks you are stupid" (opioid/Purdue Pharma ad)34:10 – Reflection on that ad, four years later36:57 – "Empty shell" theme revisited — attaching to powerful people38:07 – Usha's liberal family background; Vance's Yale friendship with a trans woman39:57 – Setup for the grandparents'/domestic violence controversy42:47 – Ad clip #2: "Abuser" ad (domestic violence comments)44:07 – Susie Wiles quote: Vance's conversion "purely political" vs. Rubio's49:56 – Ad clip #3: "Give us another chance"55:56 – Wrap-up56:44 – Sign-off begins (Big Internet Upgrades for Mayday, NY1, Curb Your Enthusiasm)
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Michelle Kinney breaks down the Kennedy Center fiasco solo: the AI-generated mockup of the building reading "DEMOLISH" that a photographer caught Trump studying through the window of Air Force One, Rep. Joyce Beatty's blistering MSNBC and CNN interviews describing how Trump "threw a tantrum" and berated her on a call before the board voted to shut the building down, and the sworn declaration from a legal observer who watched a forklift repeatedly ram the Kennedy Center's pillars the very next day. She walks through the full history — the bipartisan 1958 founding, the boycott wave, the renaming fight, and DOJ's threat to demolish the building outright — and makes the case that this was never about a building: it's about a man who's spent his entire life taking what he can't earn and leaving the wreckage behind when it won't give itself to him willingly.
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Chapters:
00:00 – Cold open01:20 – The Kennedy Center takeover, explained04:04 – "It's a dump" — Trump's ultimatum06:07 – Founding history: the 1958 bipartisan idea10:07 – Nine presidents, no drama — until now12:56 – The boycott wave: artists who walked away17:56 – The renaming fight and the June court order18:47 – DOJ's demolition threat20:44 – The AI mockup photo on Air Force One22:07 – Joyce Beatty on MSNBC: "I told him I knew he was incompetent"30:07 – Joyce Beatty on CNN: Trump's tantrum, explained34:07 – Analyzing the staged "falling ceiling" photo37:44 – The sworn affidavit: the forklift and the pillars41:07 – Comparing this to the East Wing demolition43:11 – Why the arts world never accepted him50:07 – Vance, DeSantis, and Trump's pattern of destroying his own53:07 – Closing thoughts
#KennedyCenter #JoyceBeatty #DonaldTrump #ArtsAndCulture #washington

A special emergency crossover episode of Pax Americana and The Dispatch — Olga Lautman and Julie Roginsky cover a single day's worth of escalation: a Belarus-launched explosive drone entering Lithuania, a Russian frigate firing flares at a Danish military helicopter in international waters, Russian strategic bombers with cruise missiles buzzing Norway, a suspected Russian drone found near a German military base, sabotage on Dutch rail lines, and a Russian drone strike on a Ukrainian train station minutes after Boris Johnson's diplomatic train passed through — with former CIA Director David Petraeus's train still there. They also break down new reporting on Jared Kushner's Russia-linked business dealings and the New Yorker's report on a Kremlin-tied deal list, and the ProPublica investigation into Donald Trump Jr.'s Bahamas wedding, secretly bankrolled by a Russian oligarch with direct ties to Putin's security detail and Russian military intelligence.
Chapters:00:00 – Cold open: "Late August 1939"01:52 – Belarus-launched drone enters Lithuania04:37 – Russian frigate fires flares at Danish military helicopter08:52 – The undersea cables: why they're critical infrastructure10:57 – Britain's airport shutdown: incompetence or sabotage?12:52 – Why Trump isn't saying anything13:59 – Two straits shut down: Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb17:33 – Poland reinforces its border after train station bombings18:05 – Petraeus and Boris Johnson's near-miss20:47 – Russian strategic bombers with cruise missiles buzz Norway25:19 – Could Russia actually invade Europe?27:47 – Suspected Russian drone near German military base29:44 – Why NATO won't invoke Article 531:56 – Trump's 2024 comments encouraging Russia to attack NATO32:57 – Sabotage on Dutch rail lines34:30 – The New Yorker: Kushner's Russia-linked business deals41:30 – Kushner and Witkoff's Moscow trip, the "win-win" comments44:07 – Jared Kushner and the 2016 back-channel history47:00 – Don Jr.'s Bahamas wedding, funded by Umar Kremlev53:00 – Who is Umar Kremlev? The Night Wolves and GRU ties1:02:00 – The IBA boxing corruption and Olympic ban1:04:30 – Don Jr.'s "friendship" with Kremlev1:07:00 – Bettina Anderson's Instagram statement1:09:30 – Fireworks in the Bahamas, drones over Kyiv1:10:40 – The other GRU-linked guest: Lagutin1:12:30 – Melania's statement and the stolen-children irony1:14:00 – AG Todd Blanche's non-answer1:19:00 – Russia's Matryoshka bot network targeting the midterms1:21:00 – Alex Ovechkin's Kremlin ties1:23:00 – Closing thoughts
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Recorded live Tuesday September 15, 2026 -- Michelle Kinney and Julie Roginsky dig deeper into the DHS inspector general's report on Alligator Alcatraz — the metal cages, the "calming areas" cover story, and how DeSantis and the Trump administration are each trying to pass the blame. They trace the facility's origins back to Trump's Alcatraz obsession, break down the Ron DeSantis/Hope Florida corruption scandal tied to the same key players, and widen the lens to what's happening far closer to home: an ICE beating of a U.S. citizen teenager on his way to enlist in the Marines, white-supremacist flyers posted across Brooklyn, and NYC's new lawsuit against the Trump administration's immigration public charge rule.
Chapters:00:00 – Cold open00:10 – Show open: introducing the story01:00 – Comparing this to Japanese American internment02:38 – What Alligator Alcatraz actually is: timeline and conditions05:36 – The "calming areas" cover story and DHS's blame-shifting07:40 – DeSantis's response: "we'd make the cages even smaller if we could"08:32 – Julie's 2020 focus group story: the cages precedent11:35 – Why this isn't "either/or" with Gaza13:56 – Alligator Alcatraz vs. Delaney Hall: it's on us14:38 – The origin story: Trump's Alcatraz obsession and the PBS movie19:53 – Trump's border "moat" idea and the Epstein files tie-in23:35 – James Uthmeier and the DeSantis/Hope Florida corruption scandal29:35 – Were detainees actually violent criminals? The Miami Herald numbers32:12 – Forcing people into hiding: ICE raids and due process34:19 – The photo: Americans posing outside the facility36:41 – Comparing this to Dachau and Auschwitz39:41 – Kerry Kennedy's tweets and the box cell diagram41:35 – Reading The Gulag Archipelago in this moment44:34 – The ICE beating of a U.S. citizen teen headed to enlist47:07 – Mayor Mamdani's speech on the public charge rule and NYC's lawsuit51:11 – A personal story: feeding a migrant family outside the supermarket55:11 – White supremacist flyers posted across Brooklyn58:32 – Closing thoughts: what's coming up next
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Recorded live Monday September 14, 2026 -- Michelle Kinney breaks down tonight's 7-2 Supreme Court decision rejecting the Trump administration's mail-in voting restrictions ahead of the midterms, plus why it's not time to celebrate too hard: a new DHS whistleblower report alleging officers were directed to break state laws in an unlawful "voter fraud" hunt, Judge Michael Luttig's warning about what January 3rd could bring, and Mike Johnson's own words about what happens if Democrats take the House.
Chapters:
00:00 – Cold open00:11 – Show open: internet upgrade, drink jokes00:22 – SCOTUS blocks Trump's mail-in voting restrictions02:22 – Reactions: Gabriel Sterling, Kyle Cheney, David French04:26 – Trump's "we're going to cheat" comment at the RNC05:37 – AI leaders begging for regulation, Trump's response09:41 – Judge Michael Luttig's warning: "The Final Battle for America's Democracy"15:07 – Luttig on House Republicans' loyalty oath to Trump20:59 – AG Todd Blanche's Rose Garden briefing21:32 – Padilla/Schumer: DHS whistleblower on illegal voter fraud hunt25:56 – Register to vote, check your registration26:31 – Mike Johnson's warnings: "I run the protection program"33:19 – Flashback: election night reaction clips from November37:19 – Closing: stay in the fight, take breaks
 
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