Grifty

This week on Grifty, we are heading north… way north. where climate change, government chaos, and corporate greed have collided at once. Alaska is in free fall. A typhoon has slammed the western coast, wiping out villages and food stores that took generations to build. The federal government is shut down, freezing aid and cutting off SNAP benefits for tens of thousands. While people are trying to keep their families fed, the Trump administration is approving new oil leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This is not about the weather. It is about what happens when a government built on extraction leaves its people to fend for themselves. It is about sovereignty, survival, and the politics of pretending the climate crisis is still up for debate. We are joined by Dr. Brian Heaslet, a lifelong Alaskan who knows what it takes to keep food and supplies moving across the most isolated parts of the state. Also joining is our own Sierra Montoya, bringing her sharp Alaskan insight and humor to unpack what life in the Last Frontier really looks like when disaster meets politics.

This week's episode dives straight into the No Kings protest, where nearly eight million people took to the streets to push back against Trump and the creeping rot of authoritarianism. It was the largest protest in American history, a moment that felt like the country briefly remembered what collective power looks like before the morning hangover set in. And on the other side, we had the tankies those chronically online, do-nothing leftists who spent the weekend insisting that protest is pointless. The same self sabotaging geniuses who told people not to vote in 2024 because "it wouldn't matter," which sure helped Trump slide right back into power. They call it radical theory and praxis. We call it performative nihilism and contrarianism with WiFi.

August 31, 2025 Welcome back to Grifty, the podcast where cult wellness, corporate greed, and authoritarian politics meet at a potluck dinner nobody wanted. Tonight's theme is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again plan, better known as MAHA. The Trump team is branding it as a health revolution. But peel back the organic avocado sticker and it looks more like the same old MAGA project: pretend to fight for wellness while quietly dismantling the science and institutions that actually keep people alive. Let's dig in. ⸻ Segment 1: The Food Fight Nobody Ordered Robert F. Kennedy Jr., serving as Trump's Health Secretary, launched MAHA to target ultra-processed foods, artificial dyes, and chemical additives. Big food corporations such as Kraft Heinz, Mars, and Kellogg have already pledged to remove synthetic dyes by 2027 under mounting pressure (Axios (https://www.axios.com/2025/08/31/rfk-robert-kennedy-maha-food-plan)). Supporters frame MAHA as consumer protection. Critics see Kennedy using it to market himself as America's wellness crusader while sidelining medical professionals and spreading distrust in vaccines and science. Questions: 1. Is this food reform real progress or just wellness-washed authoritarianism 2. Should we be celebrating slightly cleaner Pop Tarts while the CDC is gutted behind the scenes ⸻ Segment 2: Polls Love Food Reform, Hate Science According to an Axios Ipsos survey, 87 percent of Americans support stronger food safety rules, with bipartisan backing (Axios (https://www.axios.com/2025/08/31/rfk-republicans-gop-business-make-america-healthy-again-maha)). Nobody is begging for more Red Dye No. 40. But vaccines remain a dividing line. Gallup found that Republicans are significantly less supportive of childhood vaccinations than Democrats, leaving MAHA as a unifying food crusade that simultaneously deepens America's science divide (Axios (https://www.axios.com/2025/08/31/rfk-republicans-gop-business-make-america-healthy-again-maha)). Food For Thought: 1. Does this prove people only support science when it is about snacks 2. What does it mean when food safety unites but basic vaccines divide ⸻ Segment 3: GOP Breaks Up With Big Food The Republican Party has suddenly distanced itself from Big Food. Instead of defending corporations, GOP leaders are aligning with suburban parents worried about chemical exposure and warning labels on junk food (Axios (https://www.axios.com/2025/08/31/rfk-republicans-gop-business-make-america-healthy-again-maha)). But corporate donors are not walking away quietly. Agricultural giants like Mountaire and Reyes Holdings are resisting regulation, and their financial influence means the fight is just beginning. Questions: 1. What happens when Republicans break up with Big Food, and who is their rebound 2. How long before Fox News says Biden wants to ban Oreos ⸻ Segment 4: MAHA's War on Science The Trump administration is using MAHA to undermine public health. The CDC is being overhauled and senior scientists are resigning in protest of political interference and Kennedy's rejection of mRNA technologies (The Hill (https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5475599-trump-administration-overhauls-cdc/amp/)). Experts warn this is not temporary. Cutting research programs and pushing conspiracy rhetoric risks decades of progress in medicine and public health Questions: 1. What does America look like when essential oils replace vaccines 2. How do we measure the long term cost of this brain drain from the CDC ⸻ Segment 5: Killing Cancer Research While Posing As Wellness Saviors While Trump and Kennedy promote MAHA as a children's health movement, they are simultaneously dismantling federal programs designed to find cures for cancer, Alzheimer's, and ALS (House Appropriations Committee (https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/trump-team-dismantles-efforts-find-cure-cancer-and-other-deadly-disorders-and)). The cruelty is in the timing. The New York Times reported promising breakthroughs from a new pediatric brain cancer trial group just this week (New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/well/pediatric-brain-cancer-trial-group.html)). While researchers bring hope to families, Washington is choking off the funding that sustains them. Questions: 1. How do you square calling yourself pro child health while cutting cancer research 2. Is this just political theater that uses kids as props ⸻ Segment 6: MAHA 2026 Political Weaponized Wellness Kennedy and Trump are positioning MAHA as a key wedge issue for the 2026 midterms. The strategy is to woo suburban women, independents, and younger voters with promises of food safety and wellness transparency (Axios (https://www.axios.com/2025/08/24/rfk-jr-maha-strategy-2026-midterms)). The contradiction is glaring. They say they care about your family's health, yet they are dismantling the very systems that could save your family from disease. It is not Make America Healthy Again. It is Make America Hypocritical Always. Questions: 1. Is this wellness movement just MAGA wrapped in Whole30 branding 2. How do Democrats fight back against a political cleanse disguised as health reform ⸻ OUTRO That is MAHA in all its kale washed glory. A movement pretending to save you from Lucky Charms while cutting off cancer research and gutting public health. This is violence with branding. Trump and Kennedy are not protecting families, they are using wellness as a mask for authoritarian power. Kendrick Lamar. Please take us out.

Alana Zeitchik, an Israeli American advocate and the executive director of the Narrow Bridge Project, shares her compelling journey in advocating for communication within the Jewish community amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She discusses the intricate ties of identity and societal divisions, underscoring the need for empathy and dialogue. The emotional toll on families of hostages and the transformative activism that arises from personal tragedy are also explored, revealing the shared humanity that transcends political divides.