Krystal Kyle & Friends

For Episode 273 of KK&F we’re talking to reporter Murtaza Hussain from Drop Site News to talk about the latest juncture of America’s war in Iran. Today, Iran officials join the U.S. for peace talks in Islamabad. Iran has submitted a ten-point plan to establish peace in the region, and it remains to be seen what Trump is willing to accept. He’s pretending that working to prevent future Israeli bombings in Lebanon was never part of the deal, part of his erratic and profoundly untrustworthy strategy. No matter what, knowing our president, he’ll find a way to tout the outcome of his disaster of a war as a win. But the plan proposed by Iran requires major concessions from the U.S., which, in its hubris, has previously made clear that it expects absolute capitulation from Iran. At the same time, all is not lost — Trump has accepted the framing of the talks Iran has provided, and made it clear that he’s desperate for some resolution. What remains to be seen is just how much he can swallow given the weak negotiation position the US enters with.We cover a lot more in this episode, from the conflict’s economic ramifications to Europe’s reaction, Israel’s role in and perspective on the war, and much more. We’re grateful to Murtaza for joining us for this conversation, and we hope you enjoy. Thank you for keeping us ad-free! You can listen to this episode on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

She proudly owns the title of “the biggest pain in Ron DeSantis’s ass” — so you know Angie Nixon, candidate for Senate in Florida, is doing something right! Angie’s status as probably the most vocal and involved state legislator comes from her background as a union organizer, as well as an organizer for other grassroots causes. Angie is fighting for these causes in a state run by some of MAGA’s biggest names, whose victories have been supported by massive, craven rollbacks of voting rights.As Angie puts it, there’s “more of us than there are of them.” Though Trump and the Mar-a-Lago set have sought to create the Sunshine State in their own image, we have cause to believe that coalition can’t hold, and Angie’s potential win in the Senate race would be a major sea change. As she points out, Trump has a Democratic representative! And hey, he voted by mail. Krystal and Angie have a lively conversation about Angie’s grassroots, pro-union and progressive campaign, what it means for the state of Florida, and what her path to the seat is.Thanks for listening. You can listen to this podcast on major streaming platforms, like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Episode 271 with Luke Thomas lets us talk to a wide-ranging political commentator, someone who’s covered everything from the MMA world to (most recently on Luke Thomas Gets Political) lefty politics and current events. We really enjoyed getting political with Luke to talk about the war in Iran, Trump’s larger litany of blunders and if/how/when it’s going to catch up with him.America is making worse than a fool of itself in Iran, as weeks of casualties and destruction have piled up and Trump’s war (co-fought with Israel, of course) is losing him major support. As we watch gas prices go up, we also watch Trump continue to lock in on his senseless war, and it’s becoming clearer and clearer every day that not only do our elected officials have anything but our best interests in mind, but they also just can’t govern to begin with. This belongs to a larger international context, from the kidnapping of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro to Trump’s squeezing of the Cuban government and people to pursue his own economic and political agenda there. Trump should be scrambling to save face with his base. And he’s pursued a pretty shoddy, patchwork half-plan to make “peace” in Iran, but that hasn’t worked either! Meanwhile, what remains to be seen is also how he continues to try and cover up his (extensive) presence in the Epstein files. We talk about the unraveling regime, Trump’s own view of his image and legacy, and the role progressive politicians have to play here to help take down our tyrant.Thanks for joining us for another week of KK&F! You can listen to this episode as a podcast on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

In Episode 270 of KK&F, we sit down with Josh Citarella to talk about our blackmailing president, his Epstein links, and his inane, catastrophic World War III in the works. There should be absolutely no getting around it, but Trump and his people, while they continue to wage an absolutely senseless war in Iran, have done everything they can to distract from this low point in American politics. AOC has called out what seems so obvious to the part of the American public that refuses to be deceived: it seems very likely that Trump was involved with blackmail, and it seems clear to her (and to us) that Trump is a central member of the Epstein Class. What’s more, the files suggest Epstein and his affiliates were central to the development of online right wing culture factoring into everything from Gamergate to Pizzagate to Qanon. It’s not a pretty picture of the darkest corners of the internet, but it’s a necessary and detailed one, and we hope our conversation serves as a provocation to acknowledge and challenge that increasingly influential part of our culture. You can listen to this episode on major streaming platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

On Episode 269 of KK&F, featuring Vaush and Guy Christensen, we’re having a necessary conversation about the dead-end politics of the Democratic Party and what’s holding us back from organizing collectively at the grassroots level as the American public. The major setback, perhaps, is that the center-left and left lack a cohesive vision to move forward. Bernie ‘16 and ‘20 gave people something to rally behind, acknowledging what makes life in America so unbearable and unsustainable for working- and middle-class people, and de-emphasizing dead-end identity politics without denying the major effects of race- and gender-based discrimination on economic stability and social life. We arrive at the realization that moving beyond electoral politics as a limiting framework (but, to be clear, without abandoning it, and while continuing to see it as a primary site of class struggle) is the only thing that will allow us to collectively think beyond the day-by-day horrors Trump and his cronies foist upon us to keep our heads down and our noses to the grindstone.Thanks for joining us for this conversation. And thank you for keeping us ad-free! You can listen to this podcast tomorrow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and other major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

We have the fabulous Breaking Points producer Griffin Davis joining us on the show this week, Besides the possibility of a successful left-wing Tea Party, the continuing urgency of abolishing ICE, we also on the absolutely essential historical context missing from Camila Cabelo’s recent comments on the suffering in Cuba. In fact, hearing that someone had made such a comment, you might be inclined to assume that they had the decades-long US embargo of Cuba front of mind. It’s isolated Cuba and deprived it of essential resources, and, maintained by Democratic and Republican presidents, it stems from ongoing Cold War red-scaring and the usual US extractionist imperialism. But no! Cabelo’s criticism was for the Castro government and its inheritors, and we talk about what’s wrong with this picture.AI regulation is more of an imperative than ever, and the discussion of the threat of automation taking jobs from workers in a country without UBI came well before AI. But the advent of ever more sophisticated forms of AI has moved its reach into the white-collar workforce, and as it strengthens its stranglehold on increasingly vast swaths of American industry, the time is now to protect jobs and legislate against economic monopoly. We talk about all of this and more. Thanks for tuning in! You can listen to this podcast on major streaming platforms, like Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

We’re keeping it Krystal & Kyle this week to discuss the beginning of arrests related to the revelations of the Epstein files (with the high-profile arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor). Plus, more on Zohran Mamdani’s political bind and strategic compromises, the life sentence given to former South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol, and more.A lot has been made on the American left about Zohran Mamdani’s endorsement of Kathy Hochul for re-election as New York governor. The move struck some as a surprise. After all, Hochul is very much a mainstream Democrat. She endorsed Mamdani, but she does not belong to the tradition of class-struggle politics that elevated Zohran to an incredible upset in the mayoral race. Now Mamdani has returned the endorsement, and the distance between his own political commitments and his endorsee’s has caused friction among some of his supporters. Our discussion of this topic focuses on the thin line Zohran is walking when it comes to sticking to his principles and actually making sure that they are realized in successful policy. We also talk about how the bombshell of the Epstein files release (with much more to come, if the government is actually held to the law) is revealing a shadow government of moneyed interests at the helm of American politics. Billionaires guilty of the most heinous and brutal crimes have yet to face real repercussions. Now, the arrest of disgraced former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor shows that the shock of the information unearthed in the Epstein files may actually cause some political consequences. We fit this discussion into the context of class warfare, contextualizing it with considerations of how those implicated by the Epstein files’ release have the power to scapegoat and attack immigrants, trans people, and other civilians they designate as “political enemies” to distract from their behavior.Thanks for tuning in to KK&F. You can listen to this episode this evening on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Even Tim Pool is distancing himself from Trump, and that’s how you know it’s REALLY not good. PrettyBadLefty, or Brandon, is the host of The Discourse with Brandon and a regular Majority Report contributor. We talked to Brandon about how revelations of the Epstein files, the ICE raids, and more are wreaking havoc within Trump’s base. Trump’s approval ratings are catastrophically bad, and it’s connected to what was clearly his significant presence in Epstein’s circles. Right-wingers like Alex Jones have rejected what they see as the “hoax” going around about the president, refusing to admit that Trump was a major associate of Epstein’s. But from Trump’s recent and major dip in favorability, we can see that the administration and coalition have been massively and irreversibly fractured by the release of information about his Epstein involvement. Meanwhile, we’re advancing rapidly toward the loss of voting rights in the U.S., while right now some Americans have seen that their home states are willing to throw those rights away without putting up a fight. A lot depends upon the ability of grassroots organizers and allies in government to thwart Trump’s attempts to steal elections and crown himself our ruler again.We hope you enjoy our conversation. This episode is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and other major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Good Politic Guy AKA Mac joins us to break down the biggest news of the week — which contains some major bombshells and revelations about the future of this country, including the increasing precarity of the economy as we know it. Layoff and unemployment rates are skyrocketing, and the cost of living in the U.S. is higher than ever; AI is playing a significant role in eliminating jobs and prompting layoffs, and that role is only going to increase. We foresee that the rise of AI companies will be major step in the consolidation of capital in a tiny section of our economy.As far as the Epstein files are concerned in this episode, we’ve basically learned that the most powerful men in our society participated in a vast child sex trafficking ring but also went to the greatest possible lengths to hide it and to protect its major architect, Jeffrey Epstein. Revelations about the role of billionaire overlords like Bill Gates and their deference and loyalty to Epstein reveal the manipulative powers Epstein wielded over those who willingly participated in his disgusting crimes.Thanks for listening. You can listen to this episode when it’s released tomorrow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

On this special episode of KK&F, investigative reporter Ken Klippenstein shares info from insiders about the Trump admin’s growing surveillance machine. From those leaks, he’s learned that Border Patrol and ICE have been gathering sensitive personal data on anyone even suspected of having a connection to anti-ICE activity or resisting the immigration raids on their cities. That info, according to info Ken got from a Border Patrol agent, includes license plates, biometrics, and names of civilians they view as a threat. Krystal’s interview with Ken lets us get into the nitty-gritty of what’s actually going on within the shadowy evil of DHS, what it will mean for people affiliated and unaffiliated with resistance, and what we can do while the government struggles to cement its control over American life. This episode is available to everyone via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and other major streaming services. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Andrew Tate and Clavicular at the club, singing Kanye’s “Heil Hitler” on the way… we’re calling it the right-wing freakosphere, and its gross, mask-off embrace of fascist culture needs to be studied so it can be eradicated. As we discuss with A Bit Fruity host Matt Bernstein, that space is fracturing right now in a fascinating way. Clavicular is, for example, different from the Candace Owens type of antisemitic conspiracy theorist. Then there’s the whole TPUSA Charlie Kirk brand of more traditional conservatism. These factions are increasingly running afoul of each other and can’t find totally common ground.These right-wing influencers’ public displays are absolutely linked to hatefulness and the desire to oppress entire groups of people right-wingers view as subhuman, and also, they’re not all based in the exact same ideological tendencies. We think about how the point has often been to “trigger the libs,” and the more triggering the actions and words are, the more fascist salutes and insanely evil statements happen on camera, the more these people have fulfilled their goal. We’re seeing that these people increasingly aren’t putting limits on what they’re willing to say and that they actually feel more and more emboldened (and platformed) when it comes to testing those limits as much as they can. It’s pretty depressing to watch all of this play out among the state-run terror Trump is raining down on American communities like Minneapolis, where literal five-year-old children are being put in concentration camps. F**k all of this. We need to dismantle the platforms these people have, to radicalize their followers against violence and fascism, and to take away the power the right-wing influencer world has to rot our society.This episode is available on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Youtuber and legal expert Pisco joins us this week to lay out the case for why ICE is guilty of murder. As ICE continues to terrorize Minneapolis, kidnap residents, and perpetuate violence after the murder of Renee Good, Trump is throwing around a ton of horrifying comments showing his awareness of different legal and electoral ways to officially shut down this country’s accountability to the people. To think that the Army and National Guard could be in the conversation when it comes to shutting down popular resistance puts us in the position of having to put our lives on the line for constitutional freedoms. And throwing out the midterms will ensure that Republicans can retain power the American people increasingly don’t want them to have. It’s also a great rehearsal for doing away with presidential elections and making sure we’re stuck for the foreseeable future with a fascist con artist.We think through the avenues of legal and political authority that could prevent these nightmarish outcomes by holding Trump, Vance, and their national takeover at bay. The Supreme Court will play a huge role in all of this, and we should keep our eyes on them to exercise the power they have been given to stop exactly this kind of situation. When it comes to preventing illegal election cancellations or the invocation of the Insurrection Act, the opportunity to intervene and pull the U.S. back from the brink is theirs. There’s cautious optimism in our conversation that this truly unique moment of terror will force the Supreme Court to recognize the importance of rejecting Trump’s fascist moves. Still, like so many other political actors and institutions, the Court’s willingness to actually act on that recognition is up in the air. In our discussion, we imagine, for better and for worse, what will actually come next.Thanks for listening! You can catch this episode on major streaming platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Senate candidate Graham Platner joins us to discuss the murder of Renee Good by ICE agents mere blocks from where George Floyd was murdered only a few years ago. Now, residents of Minneapolis have seen truly how far Trump’s government is willing to go to create a reign of terror over working class people and peaceful dissidents. Good’s wife was forced to witness her killing, covered in her blood. It’s an unthinkable image of cruelty that has ignited communal resistance against ICE’s violent rule, premised upon hatred of immigrants and revealing its sadistic targeting of women, too. The people of Minneapolis have, for years now, lived at the eye of the storm of fascism, and they’ve come together in solidarity to keep each other safe and call attention to the brutality.Following the murder of Renee Good by ICE agents mere blocks from where George Floyd was murdered only a few years ago, residents of Minneapolis have seen truly how far Trump’s government is willing to go to create a reign of terror over working class people and peaceful dissidents. Good’s wife was forced to witness her killing, covered in her blood. It’s an unthinkable image of cruelty that has ignited communal resistance against ICE’s violent rule, premised upon hatred of immigrants and revealing its sadistic targeting of women, too. The people of Minneapolis have, for years now, lived at the eye of the storm of fascism, and they’ve come together in solidarity to keep each other safe and call attention to the brutality.In this episode we discuss what that organization could look like, what is already happening, and why the abolition of ICE is, as it’s been for nonwhite immigrant communities for so long, a matter of life or death. We’re grateful to Graham for joining us for this truly heartbreaking and sobering episode that makes us confront this decisive moment in our country’s history. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Taylor Lorenz, a leading journalist tackling contemporary issues in internet culture, rejoins us to go off on current trends pushing young men to embrace conservative expectations of their physiques. Clavicular is a streamer who’s used his platform to advance aesthetic standards for men based on reactionary, profoundly superficial and often dangerous ideals of masculinity. Many such cases. Clavicular is getting a lot of notice lately because of some comments he’s made about supporting Gavin Newsom over JD Vance, applying those standards in ways that capitalize on ideas of physical dominance and superiority. Clavicular’s own dad was a bodybuilder, and that’s shaped his foregrounding of “looksmaxxing,” encouraging young men to pick up on toxic ideas that define worth through conforming to unhealthy physical criteria. This is the realm of the groypers, and from what Taylor’s seeing through her work on the subject, it’s a terrifyingly dominant ideology spreading online and affecting young men.This also provides us with an opportunity to think critically about the faults of JD Vance and Gavin Newsom. We don’t have time to get into everything that’s wrong with JD Vance as a political figure. But here’s what we picked out for our discussion: He’s an incredible hypocrite who has sold old anti-Trump political commitments down the river. Vance has proven himself willing to say and do anything, putting down his own family members, to grab at power and latch on to what the MAGA base wants to see from him if they’re willing to vote him into higher office. (Yikes!)It’s a jam-packed episode, one that takes on contemporary political and cultural trends we’re going to have to contend with seriously to make sure that younger generations of voters are not radicalized to profoundly conservative and inhumane ideas about what masculinity means and who should run our country. Even if it’s not the most lighthearted conversation, we think there’s a lot to learn here, and we hope you enjoy! This episode’s available to everyone via major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Lefty commentator Keith Edwards joins the show this week for a discussion on the reign of terror and violence Trump has brought to America in under a year of his second term. As a prominent independent news host, Keith is also a great source of insight into the challenges presented to lefty independent media during the Trump years, and we get him to talk through all of it with us.Is it time for accelerationism? We talk about how everything just seems to be getting worse, and how Trump is hitting the gas on destroying American life. There’s always the belief that, as we put it, voters have to “touch the hot stove” and see how bad things can get (and they’re getting pretty bad!) before they fully reject and denounce Trumpism. After all, most anti-Trump politicians are famously bad at offering alternatives that appeal to working-class voters. At the same time, it might be the case that the possibility of coalition between liberals and leftists seems closer than ever. The Republican coalition is undergoing an absolute meltdown, with fragmentation over everything from Trump’s handling of the Epstein files to antisemitism and Islamophobia in the party. We’re looking at a political landscape that could blow up at any moment. Keith takes us through the moment we’re living in and where the conventional arrangement of American politics is headed.Thanks for joining us! You can listen to this episode now on major streaming platforms, as well as here on Substack. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

It’s relatively normal these days to see candidates expect to ride into office based on buzzy, attention-grabbing social media campaigns, but as we saw with Zohran, that’s only a small piece of the bigger puzzle New Yorkers are thinking about when they cast their vote. Name recognition can play a big role, too. But Cameron Kasky, Parkland survivor and anti gun violence organizer, has what members of political dynasties and incumbent leaders don’t have: a new vision that responds to the kinds of changes — universal healthcare, social housing, and gun violence prevention — that everyday people are thinking about on a day-to-day basis. We also talk honestly about the struggles his campaign will face. It basically goes without saying that other candidates have money — dirty money, family money — on their side. Grassroots funding and support will make a big difference in this race. It’s also difficult to be the only candidate brave enough to raise political consciousness about what truly isn’t working for his potential constituents: pointing out what needs to change is already tough, and getting people on board with a vision to change it is even harder. Cameron has been an outspoken critic of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, meaning he’s also going to have to battle Zionist opposition, and as you may remember from Zohran’s campaign, that opposition is willing to go extremely low. But Cameron’s big sell is that your paycheck shouldn’t be eaten up entirely by rent and healthcare, and it also shouldn’t fund human rights abuses abroad. We think it’s a compelling vision that could form part of a progressive tide sweeping American politics.Thanks for tuning in. You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Aftyn Behn joins KK&F to discuss her juggernaut campaign to unseat Republican Van Epps as a progressive in Tennessee. Aftyn thinks of herself as a unifier, closing the gap between Democrat and Republican voter turnout and building a broad coalition that brought in former Trump supporters and rallied them behind a program supporting affordability of housing and healthcare. She was also able to highlight everything that the Republican Party has failed to do in Tennessee, despite how powerful Trump’s rhetoric has been there — people are clearly beginning to reject that rhetoric as hypocritical and harmful to their communities. Aftyn and her coalition aren’t going to let Republicans privatize the Tennessee Valley Authority. And they’re not going to let people like Van Epps coast into office on anti-worker platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Gianmarco shares some of the major influences that have shaped his approach to comedy, with many immediately recognizable names: Maria Bamford, Jeff Asmus, Chris Fleming, John Mulaney. He’s taken cues from the greats in modern stand-up comedy and has become, in his own right, an extremely successful comedian beloved for his unique style. So it’s a treat to get to talk to him about the state of American political comedy during a moment in our country’s history that feels like it couldn’t get any worse — and yet, every day, somehow does.What does it mean to turn to political satire when the state of our nation feels beyond parody, and what kind of revelatory and radical potential does comedy really have? Now seems like the time to find out. How do we keep clowning on Trump as successfully as possible, and how does comedy fit into the landscape of political action against this evil, oafish, endlessly mockable man? We offer some answers in Episode 254, and we hope you’ll find them both insightful and, of course, funny! You can listen to this episode when it’s released tomorrow on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Substack, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Episode 253 of KK&F, where we’re talking with Usamah Andradi and Geoff Simpson of Justice Democrats about how to remake the Democratic Party to serve the interests of the American people! Justice Democrats have provided essential support to grassroots progressives as they run up against the status quo in national and local elections. Andradi and Simpson help us think about how Democrats can answer a moment of profound weakness in the Democratic Party, as Trump totally fumbles his support among the MAGA base but Democrats fail to act as an opposition party. With the kind of failure of leadership that people like Schumer showed by capitulating during the shutdown, it’s only natural that American voters are looking for something else. We talk to Andradi and Simpson about how Trump’s failures in office call for Democratic leadership, why the old guard isn’t meeting the moment, and what we can do about it. You can listen to this conversation as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

In Episode 252 of KK&F, we talk about the insane bombshell of the released Epstein files, and Trump’s increasingly desperate attempts to direct attention away from them. Plus, we talk to New York Governor-hopeful Antonio Delgado about his campaign.Kathy Hochul has long been a fixture of New York politics. As Governor of New York, she’s a major player in the Democratic establishment. But Democratic leadership in the state of New York are now looking to Zohran Mamdani as part of a democratic socialist vanguard looking to transform City Hall into an institution that works for the working class. Zohran’s election was particularly telling. People like Hochul either refrained from supporting Mamdani or waited until the last minute to do so. They see his mayoralty as a sign of even more widespread rejection of the status quo among New York voters. Antonio’s campaign for Governor of New York is another force in this sweeping movement toward left populist governance. We talk to him about what a Delgado-led New York would look like. You can listen to this episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other major streaming platforms! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Our faves (just kidding), like Ben Shapiro, have been engaging in some truly historic fearmongering about the election of someone who wants to make housing affordable and buses free. God forbid! They’re calling Zohran a far-left extremist, a totalitarian who will attack basic American freedoms. Like the voters of New York, clearly, we reject these ideas as rooted in hatred for working people, Islamophobia, and a refusal to recognize the outcome of a fair election. Clearly, in the eyes of the right, destroying democracy is okay, but these major conservative voices draw the line at recognizing a popular mandate among New Yorkers for improving the material conditions of the working class. This conversation lets us consider how these prominent commentators use their power and platforms to actually undermine the very principles and political programs that they profess, hypocritically, to support.Again, we’re so grateful to the insightful Ryan Grim for joining us again on KK&F — one of our favorite friends of the show! Remember, you can listen to the audio of this episode when it’s released tomorrow night on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and other major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Max Flugrath of Fair Fight is on the show this week (for our 250th episode!) to talk all things Trump election rigging. Fair Fight is based in Georgia, so Max has seen some of the worst of Trump’s attacks on democracy. It’s a microcosm of Trump’s bigger project of maintaining power without popular consent. There, hundreds of thousands of people have been purged from voter rolls through racial profiling. Trump’s fight to overturn the Georgia election results in 2020 — which took several days to come out — garnered massive media attention and is one of the bedrocks on which the case for his criminal behavior has been built. All of this is to say that upholding democracy in the age of Trump can literally be an issue of life or death, both immediately for those fighting for it and in the longer term as Trump’s fascist government uses election rigging to terrorize the public with ICE, police forces, and other wings of a repressive government.Max points to the difference in scale, speed, and coordination as Trump ramps up the voter suppression tactics that have just become politics as usual in American “democracy.” He takes us through the new restrictions, district formations, and policies that will deny Americans — again, overwhelmingly, people of color and people from low-income areas — the right to decide the country’s leadership. As he puts it, it’s a “five-alarm fire for American democracy.” Who among our elected leadership will step up and put up a fight?We hope that our conversation in Episode 250 of KK&F will provide answers! You can listen to this episode on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Congressman Ro Khanna is back on the show this week! For Episode 249, we’ve brought him to KK&F for a conversation about his fight with Thomas Massie to get the Epstein files released. Ro explains to us how and why he’s taken on the massive task of bringing the Epstein files to light, something Republicans up to the highest levels of power — including Donald Trump, whose involvement in those files is clear — have worked both secretly and explicitly to prevent. For a month, Mike Johnson has been able to prevent a vote on releasing the files. With Democrat Adelita Grijalva waiting to be sworn in (and suing for delay), Khanna and Massie will get the 218 signatures they need for a vote, and the vote will happen a week later.The Republican Party establishment, in other words, is in crisis as party members scramble, in increasingly obvious ways, to cover up the involvement of the world’s most powerful people in child trafficking and sexual abuse. It comes down to whether or not Republicans can run out the clock and continue to delay the seating of Democratic legislators, as they have tried to do and are trying to do now. Our conversation with Ro illustrates exactly what’s happening right now as he, Massie, and their supporters fight to make sure Trump and his lackeys can’t put the files out of sight and out of mind. We hope you’ll appreciate Ro’s insight into the inner workings of our legislative body as some of its members try to get justice for the survivors of Epstein’s crimes, and as they’re forced to go up against the president and his supporters in order to do so. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Kat Abughazaleh, Illinois Congressional candidate, joins us to talk about how Chicago is peacefully fighting back, her unorthodox campaign organized around mutual aid and livestreams, and how her time studying online right wing extremists prepared her for this moment. Recently, a video circulated of her being thrown to the ground by jackbooted government thugs outside the Broadview ICE Detention Facility in a horrifying display of tyrannical violence. I really hope you’ll take the time to hear her testimony and imagine how transformational it would be to have political leaders with her courage and principle in charge. If you are moved to support her campaign her website is here. We hope you’ll enjoy this conversation with a fearless fighter going up against government fascism. You can listen to the episode above or on all streaming services, including Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Podcasts. See you next week! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to KK&F. This week we’re joined by Abdul El-Sayed, a Democrat running for US Senate in Michigan. As a doctor, public health official and the son of immigrants, Abdul is truly a unique politician. He has foregrounded ending the scourge of money in politics, securing Medicare for All, and a foreign policy grounded in justice including justice for Palestinians. Abdul isn’t afraid to speak truth to power and to remind his base that when AIPAC wins, Americans — and tens of thousands of people in countries suffering and dying from U.S.-made weapons — lose everything. In our conversation with Abdul, we cover the past two years of American coverage and political responses to a genocide in which our government and tax dollars are directly involved. How will politicians continue to keep the pressure on the government to cease our support of the genocide, even as a ceasefire may give us a false sense that the struggle has ended? We talk to Abdul about this important question. You can listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

On Episode 246 of KK&F, Ken Klippenstein lets us in on Trump’s demonic plan to crush dissent. Trump’s new National Security Presidential Memorandum — shortened to NSPM-7 — will have massive chilling effects in the world of leftist organizing. And it will strip basic rights from people totally uninvolved in political organizing just to prevent any struggle against Trump’s repressive government. Ken tells Kyle what he saw in the Memorandum and what effects it will have on everyday people. For example, if you want to express an idea that might be even cynically interpreted as being anti-Christian or anticapitalist, Trump wants to make sure you know that there could be massive repercussions for your doing so.Believing in the basic rights of your fellow Americans could get you labeled an extremist on gender, race, and immigration status. So while we’re all extremists over here, how can we fight back? What follows is an insightful and compelling conversation with an extremely talented journalist who’s covering the issues that mean the most to us. Thanks for tuning in! You can listen to this episode when it releases tonight on Spotify, Apple Music, Substack, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome back to KK&F! This is Episode 245 with journalist Chris Hedges. Our conversation digs into the rise of American fascism and how it’s manifested lately. MAGA has sanctified Charlie Kirk as a martyr and is using his murder to paint all of their political opponents as radical terrorists. As ICE torments 5-year olds and disappears people into black sites, we’re being asked by the right to believe that they’re the ones under attack. We’re not buying it.Chris also helps us understand, by thinking about the massive unpopularity of fascist regimes in history, that fighting back is possible, and that our overlords don’t have the numbers (even though they have the money. In our conversation with one of the leading voices on why we should reject fascist control, we dig deep into the quickly escalating war our government is waging against the people, and what we can learn from the past. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Episode 244 of KK&F, where we’re talking to Cenk Uygur about Trump 2.0 and making sense of this week’s chilling implications for the future of free speech in America. After TPUSA founder and right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk was shot last week, the American political landscape has reacted with everything from shock to sympathy to outrage to apathy — and, in the case of conservatives within and beyond the White House, to identifying the shooter as a left-winger and scrambling to demonize trans people for a roommate’s perceived involvement.Things have spiraled quickly into a dark moment for freedom of speech. People have been fired from their jobs for voicing negative opinions about Kirk, others have been doxxed, and as a recent media flurry has focused on, Jimmy Kimmel’s show has been suspended for some pretty benign remarks about the conservative freakout. This week, we discuss and debate with Cenk about where things are headed and what we can do about it.Thanks for tuning in to KK&F. You can listen to this podcast episode via major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more. See you next week! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

We’re back this week with a powerful episode featuring political commentator Joy Reid: she talks us through the issues MSNBC didn’t want her to cover, what political convictions inspired her to take on her media role and informed her decision to speak out on Gaza, and how she sees the current media landscape in an age of conservative disasters.Joy Reid is a household name. Her show on MSNBC has drawn millions of viewers, and she’s covered everything from the Iraq war to the Trump years. Now, after being fired from MSNBC earlier this year, she’s continuing with The Joy Reid Show, a podcast and YouTube series airing daily. What was it like to leave the channel where she built such a massive following, and why did it happen in the first place? She says that after she spoke out on Israel’s violence following October 7, she was getting HR complaints, others cautioning her not to talk about it and risk being fired. Her own convictions — her commitment to the journalistic profession, to its standards of truth and courage, and her desire to use her platform for good — led her to speak out against the mainstream media narrative demonizing Palestinians and denying their genocide.Joy also gives us really important insight into the changing landscape at MSNBC leading up to and through the Trump years. She recalls other commentators — Melissa Harris-Perry comes to mind — who were treated badly and pushed out by the network for not conforming to the demands it made on its employees. Watching the repressive attitude at the outlet over the last decade and more, Joy’s able to give insight into what the network wanted its liberal audience to hear and what it didn’t.We hope you’ll enjoy this conversation; thanks for listening. This episode will be available as a podcast tonight on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and other major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

In this conversation with the heroic Dr. Mo, Krystal has a heartbreaking and deeply personal conversation with the doctor about the horrors he’s seen in Gaza and why the world can’t turn away. Who gives a f**k about the celebrity news of the week? We’re not engaging at all in whataboutism when we notice the utter lack of coverage given to the defining crime against humanity of this century. While bread and circuses grab public attention in the U.S., there are unbelievably courageous people working with practically no international support or material aid to do what they can in keeping Palestinians alive. Dr. Mo is one such person. He’s made multiple trips to Gaza and seen what many Westerners are too afraid or cowardly to see. The driving force of our conversation is the grief and outrage that he feels when noting the lack of aid coming in from other nations to make the lifesaving work of doctors on the ground in Gaza possible (and also to keep those doctors safe). Quite the opposite, in a place like the U.S., where our tax dollars fund Israel’s genocide and our president completely supports and enables Netanyahu. Dr. Mo’s work has also been to bring attention to this situation, calling on world leaders to pay attention to what they don’t want to pay attention to.There’s nothing harder to listen to than Dr. Mo’s account of the brutality that Palestinians face as they’re murdered and mortally wounded at every moment, while the rest of the world turns away. He’s seen children covered in burns and given them treatment. He was one of the first people to enter Gaza after the Central Kitchen Workers were killed. He’s seen the evil tricks the IOF play to use the humanity of Palestinians against them and kill them in cold blood. But Dr. Mo sees the humanity of Palestinians as the reason why they will be free. That level of care for others, that unrelenting bravery and sense of justice with which they approach every day and care for one another in the face of death, will overcome the brutal, inhuman, and pathetic cruelty of Israel. Our conversation covers both grief and hope, and although it’s difficult to hear, we hope you, too, won’t turn away.Thanks for tuning in. You can listen to this conversation starting tonight on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Hello all,Please disregard the previous Episode 240 with Richard Ojeda which was sent out as it contained an audio error. This version corrects that issue. Our sincere apologies for the mistake! We are troubleshooting our process to make sure it does not reoccur. Sincerely,The KK&F Team This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Episode 240 of Krystal Kyle & Friends, featuring politician and current North Carolina congressional candidate Richard Ojeda. He’s here for a tell-all on MAGA, especially in working class regions of the U.S. where the far right has taken hold. How is Donald Trump, an exploitative billionaire, able to go to the veterans in North Carolina or the coal miners’ communities in WV and sell hard-working people empty promises? Richard takes us through the history of those communities and what they faced at the hands of company owners just like Trump. From the start of mining jobs in the U.S. as basically “legalized slavery,” with wages paid in company scrip and goods bought at company stores, miners have always had to fight uphill for survival. Now, Trump is able to play on these narratives and speak to the fear and anger people feel at their lack of mobility in order to win support for his deeply anti-worker politics. He’s always portrayed blue-collar workers as a cornerstone of the MAGA coalition. Is there any way for these workers to be won back in favor of policies that actually center their needs?That’s exactly the mission Richard’s on, seeking to offer something other than mainstream Democrats’ stock response to the loss of the party’s working-class base. We discuss Richard’s path to victory and what that victory would mean for working people. You can listen to this episode as a podcast starting tonight on major streaming platforms. Thanks for tuning in. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Episode 239 of KK&F, featuring Emma Vigeland on MAGA’s war against women’s rights. The cruel and exploitative culture that supports tradwife content on social media and promotes the lifestyle to right-wing women (and, frankly, all women) has, as we remark, turned back the clock on women’s rights and trapped women in violent and abusive situations. In our conversation, we cover the rape allegation made by former right-wing content creator Lauren Southern against major right-winger Andrew Tate. We take a look at the larger phenomenon of celebrating Christian, right-wing, and tradwife culture within right-wing circles, a confluence that ultimately seeks to remove women from social life and force them into emotional and physical submission to their male partners, upon whom they are totally reliant. Part of Tate’s disgusting attitude toward and treatment of women is his understanding of them as property rather than people, like (as we point out) a crypto coin or a gig economy. Evolving from the twentieth-century patriarchal practice of trapping women in marriages are new phenomena of exploiting and violating women, and Andrew Tate is just one example — a very powerful example.Thanks for joining us for Episode 239 of KK&F. This episode is available as a podcast on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to Episode 238 of KK&F, featuring Jennifer Welch of I’ve Had It podcast. Jennifer provides fascinating insight into how the MAGA world engages in massive hypocrisy when they claim to support the needs of working-class Americans. She mentions a religious community member who calls healthcare a privilege and not a right. And she touches on the threats on LBGTQ people’s safety and bodily autonomy. In other words, Jennifer has seen the oppressive and cruel effects of Trump’s presidency in action, as a Democrat from a deep red state.Our conversation turns to holding Dem electeds accountable for supporting genocide in Gaza, and when those Democrats enter an election year, how to approach a vote. Jennifer talks to us about how Democrats accepting AIPAC money and funding Israel’s grievous war crimes do not reflect the views of the people that those Democrats represent. Still, she offers voting for those Democrats as the highest priority during an election year. Jennifer shares that she’s seen the result of Trump’s regressive policies on people in her community, and that from her perspective, the most important thing is to use one’s vote to make sure that Democrats beat back the Republican MAGA wave. We discuss the multiple sides on this issue and consider how to value the importance of voting blue no matter who while America continues to fund a genocide, with the support of some Democrats.Thanks for tuning in. You can listen to this podcast on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

We’re proud to present Episode 237 with former Congressman Jamaal Bowman. Jamaal was screwed over big time by the AIPAC funds that poured into his congressional race. He ran on a platform centered on the needs of working-class people and saw firsthand how AIPAC was able to plant seeds of fear and hatred into the electorate, tipping the race toward his opponent. People literally switched their voter registration to vote against Jamaal as Democrats. We unpack the effects of this political maneuvering on Jamaal’s campaign and on the political system at large.And, of course, we talk about how electeds — especially Democrats — are still (STILL!) voting to send offensive weapons to the IOF to perpetuate the genocide in Gaza. We talk about how this support for Israel works. Is it ideological? What is its basis, and why is it worth it? Finally, we discuss the importance of political education as a weapon to combat corrupting money in our elections — one of the most important ways the left has to take back control of what’s going on over on the Hill.Thanks for tuning in to this conversation on KK&F. This episode is available on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and other major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Channel 5’s Andrew Callaghan joins us this week to spill all the tea on his deep dive interview with Hunter Biden, from Hunter’s paintings to his drug use. We learn how Andrew scored the biggest interview of his career; what the media has gotten wrong about the former First Son; and Andrew’s take on the post interview reaction. We also hear from Andrew on his time in an ICE detention facility, what he thought about the Nelk Boys trainwreck interview with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and why he’s officially done with the MAGA empathy project. Andrew’s interview with Hunter Biden, released last week, ran the gamut from an extremely based defense of immigrants including an El Salvador invasion threat, to expletive laden tirades against George Clooney and the Pod Save Bros. It was, in other words, great content. It was also a rare look at a man who we’ve mostly seen through tabloid headlines and leaked photos from that infamous laptop.Whatever else you can say about Hunter, his business dealings and art sales are absurdly quaint compared to the Trump family’s corrupt dealings cashing in on the presidency through crypt scams and corrupt foreign business deals.Thanks for tuning in. You can listen to this episode as a podcast when it’s released on major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

In our discussion with Ben Meiselas, we touch on how Trump’s approval rating has only gone up among supporters since the resurgence of discussion surrounding the Epstein case. In other words, people performatively invested in "protecting children” and calling attention to high-profile sexual abusers are not bothered by Trump being an Epstein linked possible pedophile. Epstein has publicly said that he was Trump’s best friend for over a decade. What kind of information or insight is the MAGA cult missing that would actually make them concerned about Trump’s involvement?We also look at everything Trump has said that attests to his involvement in the sexual exploitation of young women and history of sexual harassment and abuse. Now, Trump is trying to divert attention away from any proof of connection to Epstein. The big question is whether he’ll get away with it. This article from the New York Times maps out how Trump’s most important allies, both inside and outside of his administration, are split over whether the base should allow him to demand we move on from his Epstein connections, or whether those connections deserve more scrutiny and public attention. With Ben, we dive into the political implications of that rift, thinking about Trump’s next few years in office and the potential (in)stability of the MAGA cult caused by polarization around this issue.Thanks for tuning in to KK&F. You can listen to this episode as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and other major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

On KK&F this week, we’ve got Tommy Vietor on the pod to talk about the Dems’ Tea Party moment. About a month after he announced plans to “phase out” FEMA, Donald Trump is now scrambling to back up his policy after the recent flooding disaster in Texas — with over 120 now dead. We discuss the tragedy as one that was profoundly avoidable; nobody should have been abandoned to die by their government. As we get into during our conversation, the lack of preparedness for the floods is a system failure across every level of government, and one that will become more frequent as the climate crisis intensifies.Our conversation also covers how off-track Democratic electeds see from the actual positions of their constituents on important issues. Opposition to Israel’s genocide (and full support of Israel from most of our government) shows how disconnected from its voter base the Democratic Party has become. We critique the lack of a true opposition party to Trump’s fascist evils and consider what in our political system needs to change.Thanks for tuning in to Krystal Kyle & Friends. This episode will be available as a podcast when it’s released tomorrow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

This is Episode 233 of KK&F, where we’re talking all things Big Beautiful Bill with David Dayen. The New York Times just released an article explaining how the hell a bill designed to gut our healthcare system and hike the debt ceiling is making it through the House and Senate. Totally absent from the considerations of House and Senate Republicans voting for the bill is any interest in the well-being of their constituents. Rather, they’re succumbing without any fight to Trump’s “charm offensive,” the epitome of shady back-room dealings.It seems almost hard to believe that these legislators, from the most powerful to the least, are willing to sacrifice their last shreds of respectability in the eyes of their constituents for a golf shirt. In this conversation with David Dayen, we lock in on how Republicans are caving to Trump without a fight and how the smallest and most frivolous of favors and gifts are enough to get them on board with what Bernie Sanders is calling “the worst piece of legislation in modern American history.”Thanks for joining us for another episode of KK&F. You can listen to this episode as a podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and other major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Zohran Mamdani won big in New York, and Dems are having a meltdown about it. How dare a Muslim socialist focusing on helping working people win the class war prevail over a disgraced sex offender? Cuomo had dark money on his side and used it to spread a message of fear about crime and homelessness in the city, trying to scare people into voting for the status quo. Cuomo and the media also baselessly smeared Zohran as an anti-Semite for daring to criticize Israel’s genocidal attacks on Palestinians. But it didn’t work. New Yorkers want better for themselves and future generations, and their knowledge of Cuomo’s governance (and travails under the Eric Adams mayoralty) has left them wanting more than the same old establishment candidates have to offer.Also in this episode, Pastor Dixon brings our attention to a serious problem sweeping social media, especially X: violent rhetoric directed at the black community, pointing toward actual mob violence. He points to Grok’s assessment of this rhetoric on X, which predicted a 50 percent chance of targeted violence against the black community in the next 18 months and a 30 percent chance of mob violence in the next two years. It’s a terrifying and bleak time as we witness the encouragement of disgusting racism from the highest echelons of our government.We talk about this time and what the left can do about it in this week’s episode. Thanks for tuning in. Today’s episode is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

This week we sat down with TYT’s Cenk Uygur to hash out our disagreements on how to approach Trump 2.0. This debate comes in the midst of Trump and Netanyahu’s regime change war in Iran and as we await Trump’s final decision on whether we will start directly bombing Iran ourselves. Notably, a number of MAGA voices have vocally opposed direct engagement. Does this anti-war commentary represent a genuine rift in MAGA which can constrain Trump’s actions and peel off some of his committed base?When Krystal and Cenk last spoke in December (full convo here) Cenk expressed a sense of optimism that the the populist right and the bro comedians in Trump’s coalition would both hold him accountable and create the possibility of some genuinely beneficial outcomes. Has this prediction been vindicated? What ultimately is the most effective strategy to block the worst of Trump’s horrors, win elections, and end the rise of fascism in America? Krystal, Kyle, and Cenk get into all this and much more in a spirited debate. Enjoy!This episode is also available on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

For Episode 230 of KK&F, we sit down with YouTuber and lawyer Pisco and talk about the devastation and terror that Trump has brought upon immigrant communities in the U.S. Recent protests in L.A. reflect the anger of city residents at the cruelty of ICE agents abducting their neighbors. We take a look with Pisco at the political conditions that created these protests, as well as the brutal local and federal responses.We also talk about the potential of a Trump impeachment. From Trump’s NFTs and crypto scams to his refusal to divest from his businesses, it looks like there are plenty of cases for removing Trump from office. How can we turn that into a situation that translates to lower numbers for Republicans at the polls? We get Pisco’s thoughts on the question of Trump’s impeachment — which becomes a question of when Republicans in the House will grow a backbone and turn the party away from fascism. Watch our thoughts on this, as well as the upcoming NYC election, above.Thanks for joining us for KK&F. Remember that you can listen to this episode on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

We’re thrilled to have Former AOC chief of Staff, Saikat Chakrabarti on the podcast this week! Saikat is a co-founder of Justice Democrats as well as AOC’s former chief of staff. That’s to say that he’s played a hugely important role in progressive politics over the past years and has his finger on the pulse. By his own account, he decided to run when he saw Democrats doing nothing as Trump ascended to power a second time. Now, with an authoritarian in power, Saikat is both a talented, experienced progressive activist and an observer of everything that’s failed about establishment, gerontocratic politics in California’s 11th congressional district. Unlike Pelosi, who has refused to assess how the Democrats let the people down leading up to and after the 2024 election, Saikat is ready for the Democratic Party to hold itself to account. By his account, the way for Democrats to move forward isn’t denying that this erosion of the Democratic voter base is happening; the Dems need to confront the erosion head-on in order to win people back. In the age of Trump, and especially as Trump destroys our social support system, filling in political potholes won’t be enough. Renewing faith in our political institutions, as he suggests, will. Getting money out of politics will, too. Those are the things Saikat is interested in accomplishing in office, and we’re excited to see the rest of his campaign.Thanks for tuning in! You can listen to this episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

In this conversation with Naomi Klein, we identify the destructive rampaging of the Trump government as an incredibly nearsighted political program: it’s not building a sustainable and just government for the well-being of future generations. On the contrary, it’s running everything into the ground for a quick buck. Naomi mentions that even though aforesaid tech overlords have no scruples when it comes to wreaking havoc on the earth for working-class people everywhere, they harbor a strange obsession with surviving the downfall of Earth through technological advances. There may be an afterlife for those who can pay their way. But for everyone stuck here and doomed to go down with the ship, end-times fascism may well be our death sentence.That’s why, with our brilliant guest, we take on the topic of what political strategies will be necessary to combat this newest stage in our country’s political development. How can a grassroots left, disassembled and demoralized post-Sanders and in the wake of a second Trump win, circle its wagons and pose a real threat to the tech goons stripping our world for parts? Naomi sees an opportunity for people to “get out of our little comfort zones” and build a broad coalition that pits the many against the few.You can listen to this podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and other major streaming platforms. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe

Kyle asks our guest Omar Baddar in this week’s episode whether a recent growing consensus in the international community (outside of the U.S) that Israel’s genocidal actions must be stopped is cause for hope. It’s true that countries like the U.K. and France have offered, as Krystal puts it, “strongly worded letters” reacting to the IDF shooting at ambassadors in Jenin, to new and horrifying information about the starvation campaign Israel is imposing on Palestine, and more. Could it be that the world leaders are finally waking up?To Omar, the hard truth is that these measures as they exist right now constitute a “fig leaf” — not enough to put actual pressure on Israel to change, but enough to allow these leaders, down the road, to claim that they stood up to Israel. What would standing up to Israel look like? Omar suggests that cutting off diplomatic relations — ostracizing Israel until it stops killing Palestinians — is the step these countries will have to take if they actually support the Palestinian cause.Thanks for tuning in. Remember that you can listen to this episode as a podcast tomorrow on Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, and more. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit krystalkyleandfriends.substack.com/subscribe