👀 Watching: Our first long-form episode
💊 Eating: Mints
👥 Preparing: For our quarterly town hall.
👨🏼💻 Analyzing: Your emails about political apathy
Last week, I wrote about the lack of enthusiasm at the RNC and how I thought that might be the feeling across both political parties. You all wrote in and not to toot my newsletter horn, but that assumption was overwhelmingly correct, at least amongst LNI readers (toot, toot! 📯).
We’ll get to all that reader feedback in a moment. First, let’s take a look back at this week, as well as what’s coming down the pike in Local News International land …
The vibe of PBS, the sound of NPR, and the comedy of Colbert
WATCHING
Our long-form show officially launched last week and we’ve been thrilled at the reaction so far. Thanks to all of you for watching. And if you haven't seen it yet, what are you doing? Drop everything and watch it now! Drop the phone in your hand! Then pick it up and watch episode one of ‘What’s Your Source?’ right here:
The thing about a weekly show that takes a week to produce is that the second you publish it, you get to turn around and do the same thing all over again. We’ve put a ton of thought into this show, but there’s still plenty to tweak and work on. In the instant-reaction world of social media, it can be hard to determine what to change and what to try a few times. But here are some things we know we’ll be working on this week:
Continuing to ensure the format works as an audio-only version. I think we mostly got this right last week but we’ve now added a “listen-only” round of edits into our workflow that will ensure the whole episode makes sense to audio-only fans.
Speaking of, subscribe to us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or listen directly on RSS!
Recording on the microphone too. I used the mic as a prop this week to mostly allude to the “vodcast” aspect of the show (while also making fun of it), but practically, it’s not a bad idea to record from that mic too. The sound is pretty good on those Rode mics! So, we’ll keep tweaking and making sure our audio levels are consistent throughout.
Adding a fun tag at the end. This week, we’re asking our interviewee for their own “conspiracy theory they believe in.” This was an idea executive producer and LNI co-founder Lauren Saks had from the jump, but we didn’t incorporate it last week. The idea is twofold. One: it’s fun! And two: hopefully it’ll motivate people to stick through the credits, see all the amazing people who work on the show, then enjoy a moment of levity, especially if it’s tough subject matter.
Our head writer and executive producer Felipe Torres Medina, formerly known for years to me as “that guy I follow on Twitter who is pretty funny and works at the Late Show,” absolutely crushed it this week. Along with another Late Show alum, Carley Moseley, and our very own Chris Vazquez, they delivered a full 27-page script by Tuesday. Our graphics queen, Sarah Hashemi, built that beautiful intro and all those amazing graphics from scratch (take that, AI!). And another Washington Post alum, Ross Godwin, defeated a poorly timed internet issue to deliver several edits of the show before publishing Thursday (to paying LNI members who get each episode early!).
So drop your phone and give them a round of applause. Now pick it up and keep reading this newsletter.
A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
Dave here in this message on behalf of our partner beehiiv, the reason this newsletter even exists! beehiiv has just released a bunch of cool new tools, including a visual editor and community features.
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Dave here again (remember me?) after the beehiiv graphic to remind you (in case you’ve already forgotten) to use code DAVE30 and get 30% off your first three months of beehiiv.
EATING
Disclaimer: the “eating” section is never an ad, but if you work for the company I am talking about and want to talk partnerships … here’s my virtual card.
Breath mints have not been breath mints since the 1900s. I do not remember the last time I had an Altoid or Tic Tac that actually made my breath smell better. So, with that in mind, allow me to introduce my new favorite “mint,” the Dr Pepper flavored Tic Tac.
It shouldn’t make sense. It shouldn’t work. And technically it doesn’t work. My breath isn’t any better. But wow does it taste good! It’s got everything I like from a cinnamon Altoid along with the other mysterious 22 ingredients that make up Dr Pepper. This was a grocery market line impulse buy for the ages, and I will be going back to that particular aisle for more.
PREPARING
Our quarterly town hall is upon us this week, which means LNI members will yet again have a chance to talk to me and the team directly over Zoom. You’ll also probably hear from my dad, who has quickly become a favorite guest star.
This time, our very own Chris Vazquez will join us to talk all things LNI, especially “What’s Your Source?” Chris helps research, write, produce, edit and even book guests for /wys so there is a whole lot to ask him.
This town hall will take place just an hour or two after our second episode publishes. So make a night of it! Watch the ep and come to the Zoom to talk about it. If you’re not a member, you can become one now right here, then register for the town hall. It’s that easy!
ANALYZING
When I asked you all how you’re feeling about the two major political parties, we heard from Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated readers across the board. And you all had capital “O” Opinions. Thank you so much for taking the time to write. I read every last one and I wish I would’ve had more time to respond to all of them. My compromise is to highlight as many as possible this week. Let’s dive in!
We didn’t hear from any Republicans who were excited about President Trump. This doesn’t mean zero Americans are excited about Trump. But given the decent number of Republicans or conservatives we did hear from, it’s eyebrow-raising at least. One conservative wrote:
“… run candidates that really want to make changes to the political machine, promote candidates that stick to their word, and call out the ones who run on one thing and do the opposite.”
A self-described “classically conservative” reader wrote in:
“I have no freaking idea what to do, other than vote against Trump where possible. Neither party seems interested in being a majority party and trying to actual [sic] appeal to moderates.”
The vast majority of Democrats I heard from were pretty fed up with their party. Many of you said that you didn’t feel the party represented your best interests, ignoring trans rights and running on a more centrist policy. From a Minnesota Democratic voter in their 20s:
“One thing I personally need from the party is for candidates to stop folding on trans issues at the smallest sign of trouble. I find it unacceptable that multiple candidates have not only stopped defending trans Americans from transphobic legislature [sic], but have also begun using the same genocidal language as the Republicans.”
The idea that Democrats moving to the middle was bad for the party was a widely held belief. From another reader …
“I'm very discouraged by how often the Democrat party thinks "moderate" flexible messaging is going to be the key forward instead of a bold and courageous progressive message and plan.”
At the same time, some of you acknowledged that in rural red towns, like where this reader’s mom lives, those voters are specifically looking for moderate Democrats.
“She says, there are people in our small town that are my mom’s age that are ‘fed up’ with Trump and are actively looking for an alternative. Democrats are trying to be more ‘moderate’ to snatch them up. To clarify, she is talking about Conservatives that always voted red and now are realizing that Trump isn’t what they want. They want to go back to McCain and Romney.”
Amongst our conservative readers, and readers talking about their conservative family members, this was the most common sentiment. Many of you had left the Republican Party because of Trump:
“It's a bit weird to say "my party" because growing up in Ohio, I followed the norm and was Republican leaning and Conservative up until Obama left, then becoming more Democrat and progressive once Trump took office.”
I was delighted to hear from several local readers. Here’s one from a former Trump supporter on the Missouri side of Kansas City, who was 16 in 2016:
“The 2016 election was probably the first and last time I saw people in my generation getting excited to talk about politics.”
And here’s a former Republican from the Kansas side of Kansas City. In order to go back to the Republican Party, he wanted a condemnation of President Trump:
“… call out Trump for his nonsense, his constant and flagrant lies and blatant disrespect for the nation.”
To become a Democrat, he wanted more messaging that wasn’t just about being anti-Trump:
“Stop being the lesser of two evils. I know you’re not Trump and MAYBE that gets you my vote for one election in a desperate attempt to course correct but it won’t keep it in future elections.”
Like this reader, many of you included your thoughts on how these parties should strategize for future elections. This meant some reflection on previous presidential elections. For a few of you, that meant throwing out the playbook that got Biden elected in 2020.
“Honestly, I think this was the worst possible outcome for Democrats. It led them to believe the playbook was still viable, and led directly to Trump 2024 … So what do the Democrats need? They need the left wing of the party to take over.”
Another email expanded on this idea but with more colorful language:
“In 2024, Biden did need to drop. They should have looked at him in 22/23 and realized that, instead of waiting til last minute … Don't get it twisted, I want a woman/fem president. I am tired of old white men. But in 2020, she [Harris] ate shit in the Dem primaries. Nearly anyone else would have been better … But that's me bitching. You know what would get me excited? Actual progress.”
That reader also reiterated the need for an agenda that included free healthcare, funding of education, trans rights and immigrant protections.
Plot twist: the reader who had written in about her mom saying their small town of disaffected Trump voters was in need of moderate Democrats happened to fully disagree with her mom. She felt that the DNC needed to start pushing more Democratic Socialists to win over the younger Democrats.
And this is where some Democrats writing in explained what did excite them. At least half a dozen of our Democratic readers wrote in about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and how exciting it was to have a leader actually acting on his policies.
“I do genuinely believe that with the unpopularity of the Republicans and the rise of progressivism, there is a lot to be excited about in the next election cycle. I suppose it's a matter of perspective.”
Zooming out again on politics more broadly, another solution provided was voting reform, which this unaffiliated emailer had attempted to write their congressman about. I chuckled quite a bit at the YouTube ad joke.
I emailed my congressman (Juan Ciscomani) about the need for better voting systems, and his response (probably from an intern, to be fair) was talking about voter fraud, which was completely tangential to my concerns. It was like yelling at a YouTube ad, honestly.
And the last email I’d like to share serves as a perfect teaser for this week’s episode of ‘What’s Your Source?’ and what we’ll be discussing.
If you are old enough to collect full retirement benefits from Social Security (67), I do not want you in office. Serve out your term, and go spend your final 20 years with your grandkids on a beach somewhere.
What would term limits look like? Are they even possible? Also, what the hell is going on with Mitch McConnell? Tune in to our /wys episode this week to learn more.
STILL HERE?
Emo Dave Fact Checker had a double feature this week, showing up on Monday to discuss the Kennedy Center and Friday to get in his Social Security feelings. Only one Dashboard Confessional reference was made across the two videos, but you should expect more in the future.
Here’s the video on Social Security (Emo Dave voice: “if you even care”).
