Special guest host Stuart Stevens kicks off the episode reminding us of the true danger of RFK Jr. and Trump's willingness to put the nation's health at risk with his confirmation. So what could happen if RFK is confirmed? Today's story helps illustrate that potential reality. This episode tells the fictional story of a middle school that opens its doors to unvaccinated students after a possible second -term President Trump eliminates Federal funding for schools with vaccine mandates. The story follows the school nurse, Stephanie Morris, as she navigates the influx of unvaccinated students and the resulting disease outbreaks that spread rapidly through the school and community. The narrative illustrates the real-world implications of the president's policy, with outbreaks of diseases like measles, whooping cough, and the flu causing hospitalizations and even deaths among vulnerable students and staff. The story highlights the challenges faced by the school nurse in trying to protect the health of all students, including her own daughter who has an autoimmune condition, without the backing of mandatory vaccination policies. Overall, the episode demonstrates how Donald Trump’s promise to defund schools with vaccine mandates could have devastating consequences for children's health and safety. Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close and Personal is available on all the podcast apps and at 2025pod.com. We'd like to thank all the artists who volunteered their time to make this episode: Laurie Burke, Leigh McGowan who read the chapters & Audrey Hakes, Joe Walsh, & others who contributed character voices. Sound design by Marilys Ernst and Jonathan Moser. Trump's Project 2025: Up Close and Personal was written by David Pepper and produced by Pepper, Melissa Jo Peltier and Jay Feldman and is a production of Ovington Avenue Productions and The Bill Press Pod. This special series is a joint production by David Pepper and Resolute Square. The book, “Trump’s Project 2025: Up Close And Personal” by David Pepper, is available for purchase at https://a.co/d/adWcJ4S.

We're back with our last show of Joe Biden's presidency. Why Joe thinks the Gaza ceasefire is an American diplomatic triumph - not Trump's. And looking back at the last four years - why Joe Biden's grade is NOT an "incomplete." Trippi looks back and honestly grades the Biden presidency. And - looking back even farther - how do we make sure what happens next isn't just a flash in the pan? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Of the Pete Hegseth confirmation hearing, Amee writes, "We should be calling it the 'Kavanaugh: The Redux' considering how well Hegseth is able to lie through his smirks, and distract from the real questions at hand with his boisterous Fox News Narratives."

Prepare to be inspired! The MAGA response to the California fires reinforces a really hard truth - we're going to have to save ourselves. They want to argue about bathrooms and genders and debate how many rounds can fit in a standard issue magazine. But they are not here to solve real problems. Tonight, Maya welcomed Alfredo Morales - and we are all better for it. Alfredo fought fires in California for two years while incarcerated. His work - and the work of some 3,000 other inmates involved in California fire suppression each year - saves countless lives and huge swaths of land and property. In a world where the powerful spend their time placing blame and sucking up as much wealth as possible, it’s Americans like us - and Alfredo - who are going to have to step into the breach and solve problems.

Last week on Fox the network used the tragedy of unprecedented wildfires in Southern California as a cudgel to attack Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. In stark contrast the “PBS News Hour” covered the fires as if they were a natural disaster not a failure of leadership. Jesse Watters seems to think he’s the emperor of the universe and Janice Dean, the weather lady on Fox & Friends, went rouge!