With Friends Like These

Ana’s journey at CPAC continues this week. Despite the conference’s overt racism and embrace of President Trump, she found young people who don’t like where their party is going. They want to see it go in a different, more principled direction, holding elected officials accountable for their treatment of women and the need to respect LGBTQ+ rights. But are there enough of them to matter? Find us on Twitter at @crooked_friends, and get in touch with us at withfriendslikepod@gmail.com. Check out our sponsors! Access thousands of 30-minute lectures with a free month of unlimited access to The Great Courses at TheGreatCoursePlus.com/Friends. Visit TheBlackTux.com/Friends for $20 off your first purchase. Go to Stamps.com, click the microphone at the top of the page and enter FRIENDS for a four-week trial, a free digital scale and up to $55 in free postage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the Season 2 premiere, Ana traveled to CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, to try and see the world through someone the eyes of conservative activists. Ana has attended CPAC for many years, but this time discovered a different conference -- rather than idealistic conservatism, she encountered overt, explicit racism. Over the course of the conference, she talked to attendees of different backgrounds, ages, ethnicities and genders, only to find nativism and racism time and again. The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel joins the pod to discuss their past experiences at CPAC. He and Ana dive into how attitudes towards President Trump have rapidly evolved over the last few years, and how that has changed priorities within the conservative movement. Check out our sponsors! Go to stamps.com, click on the microphone at the top of the page and enter “FRIENDS” to get a four-week trial and free digital scale. Visit parachutehome.com/friends for free shipping and returns on Parachute’s bedding and bath

On the Season 1 finale, reformed extremist Christian Picciolini [4:02] joins Ana to talk about his experience as a white supremacist, how his mind changed, and the work he does today to show people that there is life after hate. They discuss the rise and shifts in white supremacy within the United States and the way that white supremacists have softened their image by using coded language and racial dog whistles. The conversation turns to the ways in which white supremacy is like an addiction, and the possibilities of treating them both through recovery, kindness, and empathy. He also shares his own perspective on how to confront white supremacy: not with violence, but by helping people identify and fill in the holes in their lives, and showing how they can change. Later on, Ana and Christian touch on one of the most important things to keep in mind when dealing with not just white supremacy but ordinary interactions with people in everyday life: everybody is going through something we can’t see. The conversa

Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) joins Ana to talk about what makes Black Panther different from other Marvel movies and so important. They discuss the power of the movie’s metaphors to talk about colonization and the black experience in America as well as how this movie can prompt white people to think differently about white supremacy. Ana and Jamil also consider the active decision by the movie’s creators to make a movie for black audiences, and what that choice could mean for the future of movies and TV.  Jamil wrote the Time cover story on Black Panther, which you can find here. There is a lengthy digression about "Atlanta" and the Donald Glover profile in the New Yorker, and whether superhero movies always fight the last war while comedy confronts the future. Get in touch with the show on Twitter at @crooked_friends or email us at withfriendslikepod@gmail.com.  Check out our sponsors! Pop your political bubble with new Spotify Spotlight podcast Keep It, from friend of the pod Ira Madison III. Go to getqu

On this week’s pod, The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) joins Ana to talk about Mitt Romney’s return to politics and what it was like covering Romney’s Presidential run as the other Mormon on the bus. From there, the conversation turns to Mormon conservatism and its unique attitude towards Donald Trump, the history of the LDS Church, and Ana and McKay’s respective relationships with faith. They also talk a lot about prayer, which they both love and both feel a little weird talking about in public. You can find McKay’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/Wilderness-Republican-Combative-Contentious-Chaotic/dp/0316327417 Send us an email at withfriendslikepod@gmail.com and find us on Twitter at @crooked_friends. Check out our sponsors! Get ready for Season Two of CBS’ “The Good Fight” with a free trial of CBS All Access at cbs.com/friends. Find clothes you’ll actually love with Stitch Fix, your Online Personal Stylist. Get started at stichfix.com/friends for 25% off the first time you keep all five i

Ana talks with Linda Tirado (@KillerMartinis), [2:00] activist and author of Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America, about the Trump Administration’s awesome idea to turn the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program into a shitty version of Blue Apron. The conversation also turns to the hypocrisy of policymakers on both sides of the aisle when it comes to poverty, and how no onein power actually wants to listen to poor people. Vox’s Senior Politics Reporter Jane Coaston (@cjane87) joins Ana [33:22] to discuss what the Rob Porter scandal tells us about the Trump Administration that we didn’t already know, the problems with White House security background checks, and to answer a listener question. Ana also reflects on her own journey with mental illness [54:22] in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and how imperative it is mentally ill people aren’t stigmatized after a mass shooting. You can find Linda’s book here:https://www.amazon.com/Hand-Mouth-Livi

Rebecca Carroll (@rebel19) fills in for Ana this week to discuss interracial relationships — and Black Panther —  in the Trump era. Rebecca, whose husband is white, is joined by writer/professor Melissa Febos (@melissafebos) [7:42] and writer/performer Quinta Brunson (@quintabrunson) [47:14] to talk about how everyone’s doing in their own interracial relationships these days, in this very particular moment we’re having in America. Send emails to the podcast at withfriendslikepod@gmail.com. We are also on Twitter: @crooked_friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s that time again: Ana’s monthly check-in with WFLT’s favorite Never Trumper Rick Wilson (@RickWilson). [2:58] Find out what three-years-ago Rick would have been most surprised by about Trump’s first year, plus hear his thoughts on the future of a Republican Party he says is paralyzed by fear of a mean tweet. Also, we get some insight into what Rick’s been telling Republican elected officials when they call him up for advice. Send emails to the podcast at withfriendslikepod@gmail.com. We are also on Twitter: @crooked_friends. Check out our sponsors! Mack Weldon: Go to MackWeldon.com and get 20% off using promo code Friends Tripping: Go to Tripping.com/FRIENDS to save on booking your next vacation Black Tux: Visit TheBlackTux.com/FRIENDS for $20 off your purchase Stamps.com: Get a four-week trial plus postage by visiting stamps.com with promo code Friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BuzzFeed News tech reporter Katie Notopoulos (@katienotopoulos) drops by [3:46] to tell Ana what she learned from watching YouTube star Jake Paul’s educational video series on social influencing, which apparently involves a lot of trickery and grifting. Sound familiar? Then, [28:35] Jemar Tisby (@JemarTisby) of the The Witness joins Ana to discuss the hypocrisy of white Evangelicals who support Donald Trump, which leads to a broader discussion about racism and white supremacy in America. Ana refers to a piece Jemar wrote responding to comments made by Rod Dreher, which can be read here: https://thewitnessbcc.com/shtholes-section-8-response-rod-dreher/ Jemar also has a podcast called Pass The Mic. Read Katie’s piece on Jake Paul here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/i-took-jake-pauls-educational-series?utm_term=.fj84YOaN7#.wdzQ0286j Send us an email to withfriendslikepod@gmail.com Find us on Twitter at @crooked_friends. Check out our sponsors! Third Love: Get 15% off your first order at Thir

Writer Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) stops by to discuss her new book “So You Want To Talk about Race,” which as Ana points out, is an especially essential read for white people to check out. Using her tips, Ijeoma helps Ana workshop a particular conversation Ana’s been trying to have with a person in her own life. Then, Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) helps answer a listener question about what we can be hopeful about as we head into 2018. Send us an email to withfriendslikepod@gmail.com. Find us on Twitter at @crooked_friends. Check out our sponsors! Mack Weldon: visit MackWeldon.com to get 20% off with promo code FRIENDS. ZipRecruiter: Post jobs for free at  ZipRecruiter.com/friends The Great Courses Plus: Sign up for your free month by visiting thegreatcoursesplus.com/Friends. Stamps.com: Get a four-week trial plus postage by visiting stamps.com with promo code Friends. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

James Risen, senior national security correspondent for The Intercept, joins Ana [01:14] to discuss the rocky relationship between journalists and the government, reminding us that Trump’s threats to press freedom are not unprecedented — and Risen would know, since both the Bush and Obama administrations took him to court over his reporting. He wrote about the experience, in a must-read piece, here: https://url.emailprotection.link/?a_64gq3nIS1JTwoUCTzOU0BEMTal24kTbYv7SAHyApgJQTz-aCpiV2hC7thv5GP8w02qq0C-KqxmYADRSi1AbGq7pH-WmboNGJquZv8onY911DoZFz7SDZ2btaA_DPEZ5rnHm7ZagZ2YiROhPXq0k6Z6_X0goiPm1nsOEo3icOF4~ Then, Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) drops by [51:15] to make a case for why the term “guys” is problematic as a default when addressing each other. Ana and Jamil conclude it really, truly doesn’t take much to consider someone else’s perspective in every day interactions. We read all your emails and questions. Please send them to withfriendslikepod@gmail.com. Find us on Twitter at @crooked_friends. Thanks to our

We kick off 2018 with our monthly Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) check in. [00:57] On the agenda: what we *should* be paying attention to in all this Bannon-Trump drama — like, say, nuclear war. And, we find out how the Never Trump movement is doing. Then, we talk with BuzzFeed writer and author Scaachi Koul (@Scaachi) [38:14] about the controversy over Youtube star Logan Paul’s posting of a video from Japan’s “suicide forest,” where we draw familiar parallels to the Trump era. Read Scaachi’s piece about Paul here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/scaachikoul/even-when-he-loses-logan-paul-wins?utm_term=.pe5Y1zNJn#.uw2LjkYR1 She also has an essay collection, out now, called One Day We’ll All Be Dead And None Of This Will Matter: https://www.amazon.com/Well-Dead-None-This-Matter/dp/1250121027) Ana mentioned another BuzzFeed piece about child exploitation on Youtube, here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/youtube-is-addressing-its-massive-child-exploitation-problem?utm_term=.wndwD2dEr#.xkMplYmjL Send us an emai

First, [3:05] we revisit Ana’s interview with Red State contributor and Never Trump stalwart Ben Howe (@benhowe) about what the Left can learn from the Tea Party. Ben also discusses how leaving the conservative movement has changed his thinking on social issues like abortion. Then, [56:41] another throwback to when Adam Savage (“Mythbusters,” Tested.com) joined the pod to help a WFLT listener whose sister has embraced right-wing conspiracy theories.  BONUS: join Ana on a journey through the editor’s comments on Milo Yiannopoulos’ pulled manuscript, which Simon & Schuster submitted to court as evidence the book was bad. You can read the manuscript here: https://iappscontent.courts.state.ny.us/NYSCEF/live/EXHIBIT_B.pdf Send us an email with a question and we’ll get our #friendsofthepod to answer it in the new year: withfriendslikepod@gmail.com. Tweet us at @crooked_friends. Our awesome sponsors!  Everlane: Free shipping on your first order at Everlane.com/friends Texture: Get a free trial when you go to t

We revisit a very honest conversation between Ana and writer Rembert Browne (@rembert) about Colin Kaepernick, America, and why it’s imperative we talk about race, especially when it makes us feel uncomfortable. You can read Rembert’s profile on Kap here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2732670-colin-kaepernick-anthem-race-in-america Send us an email with a question and we’ll get our #friendsofthepod to answer it in the new year: withfriendslikepod@gmail.com. Tweet us at @crooked_friends. Happy holidays to our sponsors! National Endowment for Financial Education: visit NEFE’s new financial literacy website SmartAboutMoney.org/friends to learn how to make a financial plan. Stamps.com: Get a four-week trial plus postage by visiting stamps.com with promo code Friends. Everlane: Free shipping on your first order at Everlane.com/friends Texture: Get a free trial when you go to texture.com/FRIENDS and save 30 percent a month on the regular price if you choose to continue your subscription. Learn more

WNYC’s Rebecca Carroll [2:58] gives us her perspective on an aspect of #MeToo we should be talking about more: the denigration of black women. Also, if you thanked black women on Twitter for Doug Jones’ win in Alabama, you might want to listen in for some tips on how to put that support into concrete action.  Then, [36:28] writer Amy Sullivan helps us unpack a listener question about abortion, religion and politics. Specifically: why hasn’t the Left followed the Right’s lead in framing abortion as a religious issue? Ana and Amy reaffirm that, yes, it is possible to be pro-choice and a person of faith. Rebecca’s Esquire piece can be read here: http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a13978884/charlie-rose-sexual-harassment-accuser-story/ Our guests have pods, too! Stay tuned for Rebecca’s upcoming show Black Folk, which will air on WNYC.  Amy has a podcast about politics and religion, called Impolite Company, which you can find on iTunes. Please keep sending us your questions to withfriendslikepod@gmail.c

First, [3:17] author and theologian Diana Butler Bass (@dianabutlerbass) drops by to give us an explainer on the really long theological history behind Trump’s decision to proclaim Jerusalem the capital of Israel, and how that decision appeals specifically to members of his conservative evangelical base who believe in dispensational premillennialism (more popular than one might think). Diana and Ana conclude it is possible to change people’s minds on Armageddon. Then, [43:50] Ana checks in with GOP media guy Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) for his insight on how his party is (mis)handling Roy Moore. The main question: can the Republican Party get any lower than standing behind a pedophile?  Listeners, direct emails to withfriendslikepod@gmail.com, or find us on Twitter at @crooked_friends. Thank you sponsors! The Great Courses Plus: sign up for your free month by visiting thegreatcoursesplus.com/Friends. Hello Fresh: Get $30 off your first week by going to HelloFresh.com and using promo code WithFriends30.

Adam Serwer (@AdamSerwer), senior editor at The Atlantic, joins Ana this week [5:43] to discuss his latest piece unpacking the white nationalism of Trump voters. He argues a lot more people believe in white supremacy in America than we want to talk about, but says having that conversation is unavoidable. The discussion also draws parallels between white supremacy and patriarchy. Then, [52:11] Lizzy O’Leary (@lizzieohreally) of Marketplace talks sexual harassment and bad behaviour — that “grey area” — in the media, including her own encounters with men she shrugged off as a young reporter, but now horrify her. She wrote about those experiences here: https://www.thecut.com/2017/11/lizzie-oleary-describes-sexual-harassment-in-journalism.html.  A link to Adam’s piece, The Nationalist’s Delusion, is here: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/the-nationalists-delusion/546356/ Send us an email! Thoughts and questions to withfriendslikepod@gmail.com, or find us on Twitter at @crooked_friends. If y

In this special episode, Ana takes a field trip to Chicago to visit with a group of voters long misunderstood by the coastal elites but who played a pivotal role in the 2016 election: that’s right... Hillary voters. What makes them tick? Why do they have such affection for her? Will they continue to support her, no matter what? Also, we try to humanize them a bit: Hillary voters may seem different, but really, they’re just like you or me! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Moe of “The Hilarious World of Depression” podcast (@johnmoe) returns to the show for a special Thanksgiving episode dedicated to self care. Ana and John share some coping mechanisms for those tough days, like setting boundaries and giving your anxiety a name. Two important reminders: you have worth, and it gets better. If you missed John last time he was on the pod, find that episode here: https://crooked.com/podcast/the-help-is-coming-from-inside-the-house/ You can also listen to John’s podcast, right here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hilarious-world-of-depression/id1181589175?mt=2 If you are struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK. Be well. You are loved. We read every email we get! Please send us a message: withfriendslikepod@gmail.com Or tweet us at @crooked_friends on Twitter. Thanks to our sponsors! Framebridge: Go to Framebridge.com and use promo code FRIENDS for 15% off your first order. TrackR: Re

First, [3:35] newest Crooked Media pod host Ira Madison III (@ira) drops by to talk about why “good men” should be prepared to lose something when it comes to facing and assessing their past behaviour, which includes acknowledging a system that has afforded white men so much success. Ira and Ana start by asking: should Al Franken resign? Then, [36:00] former South Carolina Republican congressman Bob Inglis (@bobinglis) is back to help us make sense of why many Evangelical Christians in Alabama continue to stick by Roy Moore even after numerous women have accused him of sexual misconduct, which leads to a discussion about identity politics.  You can tweet us at @crooked_friends on Twitter or send us your thoughts via email at withfriendslikepod@gmail.com Thanks a bunch to our sponsors! KIND: Find your free sample box at KindSnacks.com/friends HELIX: Go to HelixSleep.com/Ana and get $50 off your order. EVERLANE: Free shipping on your first order at Everlane.com/friends PARACHUTE: Visit ParachuteHome.com/