It Could Happen Here

Stephen Prochaska, a disinformation researcher, and Danielle Lee Tomson, a communications research manager, examine the rumor mill around the 2026 election. They explore how claims of rigging take shape, how real voting problems get exaggerated, and how activists manufacture “evidence.” The conversation also covers prediction markets, government amplification, fraud bounties, conspiracy narratives, and why election misinformation may surge after Election Day.

Molly Conger, a writer and researcher focused on political extremism and internet communities, joins James Stout for a practical winter clothing conversation. They explore layering, wool versus synthetics, active insulation, gloves, hats, gaiters, and puffy jackets. They also examine affiliate-driven outdoor media, PFAS pollution, gear repair, and the dangers of wet, freezing conditions.

A firsthand account of Brazil’s high-stakes election, from a dispiriting first round to a grassroots surge that rallied millions. Student protests, viral videos, influencer networks, evangelical outreach, and provocative online tactics helped turn fear into action. The story explores how coordinated WhatsApp campaigns, digital disruption, joyful demonstrations, and popular organizing challenged the far right and defended democracy.

A cozy lunar tale follows Persephone, an obsolete companionship robot fleeing recycling and searching for a place to belong. She discovers Seafoam, a vibrant robot community, meets a cyborg tarot reader, and confronts grief, memory, personhood, and the possibility of a new home. The discussion also explores objectification, alienation, and why fictional robots differ from generative AI.

Pamela Sweetland-Hallis, Andrew D. Ferguson, and Elizabeth Koppis-Duclo are IWW organizers focused on workplace democracy. Labor historian Kim Kelly explores strikes by gravediggers, morgue workers, and funeral crews. Writer Carlos Barrios Polanco traces the chupacabra’s Puerto Rican roots and anti-imperial symbolism. The compilation also examines Israeli elections, Lula’s victory, AI political ads, voter-fraud myths, and Albania’s protests.

Margaret Killjoy, an author, anarchist, and political podcaster, joins a wide-ranging discussion of Lula’s surprise victory and Brazil’s grassroots digital counteroffensive. They examine claims of non-citizen voting, James O’Keefe’s self-documented election stunt, and the explosive rise of AI-generated campaign ads and deepfakes. Killjoy also explores Albania’s protests against corruption, privatization, and police violence.

A Halloween tour through labor history’s darkest workplaces. Hear about cemetery workers’ strikes, a Philadelphia morgue crisis, Cook County’s overcrowding scandal, and embalmers fighting for better pay and hours. The story ends with 19th-century coffin makers wielding unusual leverage in the struggle for an eight-hour day.

Carlos Barrios Polanco, a Puerto Rican writer exploring colonialism, folklore, and political culture, traces the chupacabra from a movie-inspired sighting to an international legend. He explores sensational media, class, drought, military experiments, sterilization memories, Vieques, and Puerto Rico’s colonial crises. The creature’s journey from bloodsucker to anti-colonial symbol reveals a much more human monster.

Pam Suitland-Halas, a Washington, D.C. labor organizer; Andrew D. Ferguson, a Houston organizer focused on workplace democracy; and Elizabeth Copis-Dukelow, Portland branch associate treasurer, discuss the IWW’s 2026 elections. They explore the One Big Union model, local campaigns, member participation, power-sharing, free-expression disputes, and tensions between grassroots democracy and executive control.

A return to Lochiel traces the fallout from border-wall construction and the federal response to land defenders. It covers raids on the tree camp, arrests, chemical agents, agency cooperation, and the destruction of Grandmother Tree. The story also follows renewed tree-sit resistance, growing solidarity, mutual aid, and how encampments can nurture movements long after the camp is gone.