The New Abnormal

Things are pretty bleak for the LGBTQ+ community in Florida thanks to Ron DeSantis’ blitz of hate legislation. Pride celebrations being cancelled just part of the fallout. The President and CEO of Lake County Pride, Danielle Olivani, joins TNA co-host Danielle Moodie on this episode of The New Abnormal to share why the group is moving ahead with their celebrations anyway, the pushback its gotten in spite of it, and the impact these bans have had on the community’s youth, in particular. Olivani also notes what they see as a “mass migration” out of the state because of it. Plus: Part 2 of author James Risen’s interview with TNA co-host Andy Levy, where he shares more about Senator Frank Church, the man who lead the Church Hearings against the CIA and FBI (and who Jimmy Carter called a jerk in his diaries).

James Risen, author of The Last Honest Man: The CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, and the Kennedys―and One Senator’s Fight to Save Democracy, joins this episode of The New Abnormal politics podcast to talk about Senator Frank Church, who led what is known as the Church Committee, a group that held Senate hearings in order to hold the intelligence community accountable for its expansive abuses. He shares one particular story with co-host Andy Levy that explains how a few whip-smart journalists, and President Gerald Ford opening his big mouth, finally exposed the CIA and set the hearings against them in motion.

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, we’re joined by Jeb Lund and David Roth of the It's Christmas Town Podcast who talk all about Ron DeSantis entering the presidential race. Plus! Representative Jasmine Crockett talks about the clown show that Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Marjorie Taylor Green have turned the Congress into.

Daily Beast congressional reporter Sam Brodey came on The New Abnormal politics podcast to talk through the ways that Trump’s default talk could screw Republicans, and also to share how this stance of Trump’s could possibly benefit him (or not.) Then, Jonathan Last, editor of The Bulwark, joins the show to talk through a DeSantis election theory and break down his rankings for the possible 2024 Republican presidential nominees most likely to win the election, including a very crass argument for putting Chris Christie dead last. Plus, co-hosts Andy and Danielle can’t believe that Florida is turning into one big “sundown” town.

Historian Joshua Zeitz, author of Lincoln’s God: How Faith Transformed a President and a Nation, joins this episode of The New Abnormal to walk co-host Danielle Moodie through Abraham Lincoln’s spiritual journey and how his Christianity looked much different than what other presidents believed. He also shares with her the connection that Lincoln’s religion had to his decision to emancipate the enslaved, what others thought of him at the time, and what people get wrong about him today. Plus, Danielle and her TNA co-host Andy Levy dub Marjorie Taylor Greene “MAGA Karen” and point out comparisons between her and the woman that got Emmett Till unjustly killed.

Long Island native Zak Malamed is tired of Rep. George Santos’ shit. So tired of it that he decided to run against the accused serial liar for his House seat. He shares with co-host Andy Levy why he thinks Santos won in the district to begin with, how he thinks he stands a chance to win, and his thoughts on Santos’ lies about being Jewish, something that Malamed took personally. Also on this episode: TNA co-cost Danielle Moodie talks to State Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, one of the “Sister Senators” in the South Carolina Senate—made up of three Republicans, one Democrat, and one Independent— who banded together to block an abortion ban in their state. Sen. Matthews shares how her relationship with one of her Sister Senators on the other side of the aisle, Republican Katrina Shealy, began, and what it’s like to be a woman and a Black person, in such a sexist, racist state legislature.

Chasten Buttigieg is no stranger to hate. He joins this episode of The New Abnormal to share with Danielle more about his upcoming memoir, “I Have Something to Tell You―For Young Adults,” and reveal his secret to handling anti-LGBT hatred and attacks, from conservatives like Ron DeSantis and Tucker Carlson to right-wing trolls on Twitter. Later on this episode: Andy interviews Maggie Tokuda-Hall, the children’s book author who refused to let Scholastic censor her book, “Love in the Library,” which tells the story of how her grandparents fell in love in a Japanese internment camp during World War II. Plus! The hosts address the right’s latest attempt to defame President Joe Biden and point out a big loophole in DeSantis’ latest anti-trans healthcare bill.

In this episode of The New Abnormal podcast, hosts Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie respond to an interview clip where George Santos calls himself “regular guy” and explains the real reason why he thinks people don’t like him. And Danielle makes an astute comparison of Santos to the main character of the show “Inventing Anna,” a serial grifter. Plus, they unpack the 2018 recording of Ron DeSantis doing debate prep with Matt Gaetz who says he’s “aggressive” like Donald Trump. Then Andy chats with Marcus Flowers, who ran against Marjorie Taylor Greene in the 2022 election on what sets his new Mission: Democracy PAC apart from the Lincoln Project and why he thinks it can help candidates win in super MAGA-influenced districts. 

On this week’s episode of The New Abnormal, Alyssa Farah Griffin, co-host of “The View” and former Trump White House director of Strategic Communication, talks about her experience firsthand in the orb of Trump sexual harassment. Plus! The Daily Beast reporter Kelly Weill joins the podcast to talk about the Texas Allen Mall shooter and how the right wing is trying to whitewash his reputation.