I barely had a moment to get comfortable before my phone started buzzing. In one of those coincidences that make you believe the good lord does not want to see CNN turned into Fox News, I got a flood of messages that the state attorneys general had just won another major antitrust case that they took to trial: the Live Nation-Ticketmaster monopoly. I immediately jotted a note and passed it to Katie, who broke the news to the room during her opening statement:

Katie, David, and Mark were representing different constituencies that were signatories to a letter that we at Democracy Defenders Fund, the Committee for First Amendment, Future Film Coalition, and many other groups had put together. It features over 3,500 signatures urging state AG action here, just as in the LiveNation case, and pledging their support for the AGs. The signers include everyone from stars like Ben Stiller, Bryan Cranston, and Jane Fonda to the working people who actually make the film, television, and news businesses operate: camera operators, makeup artists, sound engineers, and many others.

The letter dropped on Monday with a New York Times exclusive, was widely covered everywhere, and served as a wake up call to Larry and David Ellison, the father-son duo who run Paramount, that this dangerous combination faces the same opposition that was successful in the Live Nation-Ticketmaster case. The news of that state AG win galvanized the wood-paneled hearing room in the Rayburn House Office Building and with the letter and hearing constituted a one-two-three punch that knocked the inevitability out of the Paramount-WBD narrative.

I was so proud of my friends who testified with the other witnesses, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard representing the Committee for the First Amendment and Michael Isaac representing the Writers Guild of America East. As Katie said when she was later reflecting on the hearing, “Each and every witness delivered … the critical messaging that we all need to hear, which is that this merger threatens creative independence … [and] the ability to deliver truthful fact-driven journalism.” Here’s our Substack Live conversation moderated by the Contrarian’s wonderful culture columnist Meredith Blake where you can catch that and more:

It’s fitting that our work to oppose this merger, which is only beginning, came the same week that the Hungarian people finally threw out Viktor Orbán after 16 years of authoritarian rule. The excessive control of entertainment and news by merging two of Hollywood’s iconic film and TV producers, putting CBS, CNN and TikTok under the ownership of the Ellisons, would effectively represent the Orban-ization of America. As our letter of support for the state AGs said, “Competition is essential for a healthy economy and a healthy democracy. So is thoughtful regulation and enforcement. Media consolidation has already weakened one of America’s most vital global industries — one that has long shaped culture and connected people around the world.”

As I recently wrote, the Ellisons are notorious cronies of Trump, who with his administration have been openly pushing for the merger, including the takeover of CNN to get better coverage. And to prove the point about this unholy alliance, David Ellison will this week host a D.C. dinner “in celebration of the First Amendment honoring the Trump White House” together with the CBS White House correspondents. You can’t make this up. How do you celebrate freedom of the press by honoring a president and a White House who viciously attack it daily? The oxymoronic nature of the gathering is only highlighted by its location, the “Donald Trump United States Institute of Peace.”

This is exactly the kind of thing that Hungary–where Orban-linked forces took over the media–just rejected. We can’t let Orbanization happen in this country. We are just getting started with our work to stop it.

That is thanks to you Contrarians of course. Your paid subscriptions make it possible for us to work on this matter and about 300 others! That includes many of the landmark cases and wins of the Trump period. It’s the most unique bargain in American journalism: you get the Contrarian’s scintillating coverage of how our democracy is fighting back, and you get to join the fight by supporting my and my colleagues’ legal cases.

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As for the anti-merger letter the over 3,500 entertainment and news professionals who have now signed are all heroes because they are speaking up despite the risk of retaliation. Indeed, that retaliation was demonstrated — together with the Ellisons’ unfitness to operate CNN — when Paramount pulled all its advertising from a leading entertainment publication because one of its columnists signed the letter. There was no real doubt about the unsuitability of the Ellisons after the shocking mishandling of CBS News on their watch, but the episode highlighted how brave the signers are. Ruffalo put it well in his testimony when he compared this moment to the notorious Hollywood blacklist era.

Perhaps my favorite moment of the entire process of putting together this letter, however, was when my friend Damon Lindelof told us several days before the letter launched that he was going to apply his signature. He’s one of the great TV creators whose body of work includes Lost, Watchmen, and much more. He has made his professional home at Warner Bros. for a decade and a half. He explained on Instagram, “Hollywood mergers mean fewer movies and fewer TV shows and that means fewer jobs. When two storied backlots are owned by the same company, the outcome is intuitive—one becomes a Ghost Town. I’m scared. But I’m not a ghost. And a fight is already lost if it’s never fought. So I signed. Proudly.” His entire statement is worth reading. I am nominating him for a Profile in Courage Award! (Documentarian Rory Kennedy signed the letter too, so I know who to call.)

True, all of this was just one battle in a much larger war for democracy being waged in the United States and around the world, including in Hungary. But that’s how we save our democracy: one battle after another (so to speak). And that is also how we at the Contrarian cover our democracy. See for yourself in our rundown of the best of the Contrarian’s work this week, as always put together by my wonderful colleagues.

Under the Banner of Heaven

Hegseth’s Enraging Purges Shock but Don’t Surprise

Shalise Manza-Young wrote on the secretary of Defense’s ongoing exercises in bigotry and poor military leadership, a man seemingly determined to exclude everyone more qualified (and non-white/straight/cis/male) than he is. “Before he publicly prayed that his God give troops the power to commit ‘overwhelming violence’ in Iran, Hegseth had already acted like a segregationist intent on taking the military back to 1948.”

Trump’s Puerile Pope Problem

Catholic author and scholar Christopher Hale joined Jen Rubin to break down Trump’s recent attacks against Pope Leo XIV, and why the pope’s comments are getting so far under Trump’s skin in the first place. “When Americans can see the man in the white cassock speak natural English and speak thoughtfully about American issues…. I think that is his superpower.”

Elections

The California Quagmire

Tim Dickinson reported on the latest in the “semi-dysfunctional scrum” of California’s governor’s race, which, following the exit of Democrat Eric Swalwell in light of sexual assault allegations, has created a bizarre danger zone for Democrats: If they don’t coalesce around a viable candidate soon, California could end up choosing between two Republicans.

Trump Mobilizes DHS and USPS in Latest Assault on Elections

Samantha Tarazi told us what we need to know about Trump’s second executive order on elections, signed last month in the aftermath of the SAVE Act’s legislative failure, and no less of a blatant attempt at disenfranchisement. “[It’s] all to create chaos and sow seeds of doubt ahead of this year’s midterms while giving Trump’s allies in state legislatures a playbook to undermine American citizens’ freedom to vote.”

Long Cons

The Tax Fairness Question Dominating This Filing Season

Elena Patel wrote on the new inequalities of this year’s tax season, courtesy of the One Big Beautiful Bill — the benefits of which tilt toward the very top of the income ladder while the costs fall on those at the bottom.”

Russ Vought Is Rewriting America’s Budget

Apropos of Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought testifying before the House Budget Committee — during which lawmakers quizzed him on Trump’s proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget (a 44% increase) and cuts to domestic programs — Bobby Kogan joined Jen to discuss Vought’s real game: the continued gutting of federal programs.

Why Donald Trump and Kash Patel Want Your Data

Jeff Nesbit wrote on how the very administration that claimed to be the victim of surveillance overreach is now asking for the keys to the most powerful spy machine ever built. “The timing is calculated.”

Media Matters

Why the Meme Wars Are No Laughing Matter

Josh Levs wrote on “memetic warfare,” in which the base units of internet commentary have become powerful tools of statecraft, propaganda, and cyberattacks. “It’s a phenomenon that surrounds and manipulates us in ways most people don’t realize.”

Block the Merger!

Katie Phang laid out an exacting case against the Paramount–Warner Bros. merger, which would erode press freedom and make important stories harder to tell. “Maybe no executive ever says the quiet part out loud…. Careers are made and destroyed through suggestion, through silence, through raised eyebrows.”

‘If Someone Won’t Answer, Persist’

Meredith Blake interviewed the subject and filmmakers behind Steal This Story, Please!, a documentary about Amy Goodman, the unflinching Democracy Now! Host whose prescient vision for independent media is now a beacon in a time of unprecedented consolidation and threatened free speech.

Fighting Back

Orban’s Defeat Spurs Democracy’s Resurrection

Tim Mak joined Jen to discuss celebrations in the streets of Budapest, what Viktor Orbán’s defeat means for global democracy, and what we can learn for our own fight against autocracy. “They were chanting Europe, Europe, Europe….”

This AG Fought the Ticketmaster Monopoly and Won

California Attorney General Rob Bonta joined Jen to discuss his win this week in the monopoly case against Ticketmaster and Live Nation — welcome proof that states can fight the oligarchy despite a federal government with no interest in enforcing antitrust laws.

The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement

This week, we saw protests in Texas and Washington, Tesla Takedowns, and much more. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.

Culture, Cartoons & Fun Stuff

This week, our cartoonists took on the Strait of Hormuz (Holding the Cards, Taking a Toll, Nick Anderson; Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling), dire straits at CNN (Coming Soon: The New CNN, RJ Matson), and straight-up blasphemy (Big Crowds, Doctor, Doctor, Michael de Adder).

Inventors Have Looked to Perfect ‘Robot Umpires’ for Better Part of a Century

Frederic J. Frommer reported on the MLB’s recent adoption of the automated ball-strike system — and how it’s actually the culmination of a surprisingly long, quixotically funny quest for robot umpires. “Jeez, Luciano, this machine is even blinder than you.”

Moon Joy

Lily Conway wrote about the joy the Artemis II crew gave us. From naming a crater in remembrance of one of the crewmember’s late wife to reveling in the possibility that humanity can do amazing things when united, everyone can use a little Moon Joy right now.

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One last thing: Your big idea (350 words) could win $1,000. Five colleagues and I are judging The Future of Democracy Prize — and we’re looking for young voices (18–30) with bold answers to one question: What will it take for U.S. democracy not just to survive, but to thrive? No finished essay required to enter. Just a 350-word abstract by April 30. Finalists get $1,000 and publication in a national anthology. Learn more or submit your entry here! And please, forward this to one smart 20-something who needs a nudge.

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Terrible things are happening on Earth. Existential dread has gone from an occasional nuisance to a constant companion. A secret police force roams the streets, a pedophilic cabal is being protected by those supposed to hold them to account, for God’s sake, the president of the United States threatened the extermination of an entire civilization last week. The nervous system of humanity is shot.

Yet on April 6, something amazing happened. Four astronauts were the farthest distance from Earth ever recorded in human history: 248,655 miles. Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover became the first people ever to see the complete face of the lunar farside (better known as the “dark side,” despite it constantly being lit by the sun). The amount of science, precision, technology, and human bravery it took to get four humans there and back safely is impossible to comprehend.

Thanks to advancements in communications technology, a large portion of the ten-day mission was live-streamed, including the initial launch in Florida, a flyby around the moon, and splashdown near the coast of San Diego. People from around the world could tune in, enabling a feeling of emotional connection with the crew members and an investment in their wellbeing. Furthermore, the photographs that came from the mission were absolutely jaw-dropping. Seeing Earth from the perspective of space elicits a sense of wonder, awe, and often a perspective shift. We have only one planet to call home.

The odds of our planet having the physical, biological, and chemical necessities to host intelligent life are estimated to be 1-in-700-quintillion. Earth is positioned in the “Goldilocks Zone” — not too close to the sun and not too far. As such, we are the only planet in our solar system to have liquid water. The gravity of Earth offers the perfect conditions for keeping the atmosphere in place, maintaining habitable temperatures, and protecting life from cosmic rays. We are also unique in that we have only one moon; all other planets have multiple satellites (with the exception of Mercury and Venus, which have none). All this to say: Earth is a very special place.

While on a call to the International Space Station (the first ever of its kind between moonship and spaceship), Koch described how she felt looking back at Earth from space,

The thing that changed for me, looking back at Earth, was that I found myself noticing not only the beauty of the Earth, but how much blackness there was around it and how it just made it even more special…It truly emphasized how alike we are, how the same thing keeps every single person on planet Earth alive.

With the Artemis II mission being accessible to anyone online and never-before seen 4k pictures instantly going viral, the internet was able to collectively revel in that wonder.

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The reaction resulting from “perceived emotional synchrony” is known as collective effervescence. Anything can trigger it, but the key element is feeling as though you’re experiencing with others something that is larger than yourself. Not only was it spectacular to witness the Earth and moon from a brand new angle — reminding us how small we really are — but seeing a competent, kind group of people work together to reach a goal for the sake of humanity is something we have not seen from our leaders in a long time. Throughout the mission, each crew member embodied the namesake of moonship: Integrity. The name was given to the Orion spacecraft to reflect “the foundation of trust, respect, candor, and humility,” qualities found within the four astronauts and the many, many scientists who made the mission a success.

One of the most touching examples of this came during the sixth day of the mission. After seeing an unnamed crater on surface of the moon, the crew called down to mission control in Houston to suggest a name:

A number of years ago, we started this journey in our close-knit astronaut family and we lost a loved one. And there is a feature in a really neat place on the Moon, and it is on the nearside/farside boundary. In fact, it’s just on the nearside of that boundary, and so at certain times of the Moon’s transit around Earth, we will be able to see this from Earth. And so we lost a loved one. Her name was Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie. And if you want to find this one, you look at Glushko, and it’s just to the northwest of that, at the same latitude as Ohm, and it’s a bright spot on the Moon. And we would like to call it Carroll.

The internet quickly latched on to the joy and awe radiating from the Artemis II crew. NASA coined the term “moon joy” after an interaction between Wiseman and mission control communicators went viral. The term quickly caught on as a way to describe the collective effervescence rippling throughout the mission and the observers back on Earth.

Even when people weren’t using the term explicitly, they were certainly participating in and expressing their moon joy. From a sudden feeling of being connected to humanity, to remembering that government organizations are actually meant to foster human growth and achievement rather than quash it, the sentiment online regarding Artemis II felt jarring (but not unwelcome) amid social media’s usual flood of bad news.

How are we supposed to reconcile the wonders of this accomplishment with the atrocities being committed simultaneously? How can the same species send four humans 248,655 miles away from our planet while bombing each other on Earth? Can we hold two truths at the same time? That humanity, existing together in a universe of such beauty, is capable of both jaw-dropping courage and horrific brutality?

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After the mission had concluded and the astronauts were back on land, Hansen reflected on the outpouring of love the crew received: “What you saw was a group of people who loved contributing, having meaningful contribution and extracting joy out of that. And what we’ve been hearing is that was something special for you to witness. I would suggest to you that when you look up here, you’re not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you, and if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper. This is you.”

Perhaps we’re all capable of finding joy in contributing to something greater than ourselves. Perhaps unity and a shared interest in protecting humanity can be the launchpad for enacting meaningful change. If it took seeing four wonderful people travel to the moon and back to make us realize that, so be it.

Lily Conway is the associate producer of The Contrarian.

Back in 2012, Aaron Sorkin created a TV show called The Newsroom. Set behind the scenes at a fictional cable news network, the HBO drama followed a band of producers and correspondents led by blowhard anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) as they covered real-life news events from the recent past, like the death of Osama bin Laden and the Deepwater Horizon spill. He used actual news, “because it was just going to take us too far away from reality,” Sorkin said in 2012.

The show was divisive, and journalists mostly hated it. Many of The Newsroom’s detractors felt that Sorkin, with the convenient benefit of hindsight, was lecturing actual reporters on how they should have done their job. It was canceled in 2015, before Sorkin got to offer his take on Trump’s rise to power (or the media’s role in it).

Nearly a decade and a half later, another ambitious TV drama is attempting to tackle the news in something close to real time — but doing so in a way that’s both more dramatically compelling and politically astute.

The Pitt, which wrapped its second season on HBO Max Thursday, is set in the perpetually overcrowded emergency department at the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, a teaching hospital with a fitting nickname: “The Pitt.” Attending physician Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch, a grizzled veteran played by Noah Wyle, oversees a band of sharp-tongued residents and medical students.

Created by R. Scott Gemmill, the series is a clever hybrid of E.R. (on which Wyle starred for over a decade) and 24: each season follows the staff and patients at the Pitt over a single 12-hour shift (that inevitably runs into overtime), with each episode dramatizing a single hour in the life of the emergency room. The show’s real-time structure drives home the relentless, grueling nature of emergency medicine. Patients come and go constantly, and are not always heard from again. Often, they die.

The show blends an old-fashioned broadcast format (i.e., longer seasons with less downtime) and the edgier sensibility of a streaming series (including lots of bloody viscera, coarse language, and the occasional closeup of an engorged penis). This unique mix has enabled it to become that rarest of things in the fractured cultural landscape of 2026 — an Emmy-winning critical darling that is also a broad-based hit.

But what is perhaps most remarkable about The Pitt is how viscerally it captures what’s ailing the country right now — both literally (measles, addiction) and figuratively (racism, income inequality). The series uses an underfunded emergency room as a microcosm for American society writ large, exploring how vast cultural and political forces affect the wellbeing of ordinary people and the medical professionals who care for them. It’s no accident that The Pitt is set not in Chicago, LA, or New York, but in a famously scrappy post-industrial city in a pivotal swing state.

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Season 1 dramatized issues like vaccine hesitancy, abortion restrictions, and post-COVID burnout in the medical profession. Season 2 has leaned even further into the topical commentary, with seemingly ripped-from-the-headlines stories about ICE, sexual assault, Medicaid, and more.

For The Pitt’s creative team, the goal has always been authenticity, not didacticism. “The fastest way to get people to turn the channel is if they feel like we’re preaching to them or we’re being dogmatic,” Wyle said last year. (The actor is also a writer and executive producer on the series.) “What we wanted was accuracy and realism. We wanted to just be presentational with what emergency rooms look like.”

The Pitt was originally envisioned as a spinoff of E.R., following an older, possibly wiser version of John Carter, the character Wyle played in the beloved NBC drama. When that idea hit a legal snag, Wyle and company overhauled the premise, imagining a timely series that would grapple with the enormous strain on medical professionals in the wake of COVID.

Dr. Robby offers the starkest example of this psychological trauma. In Season 1, which takes place five years to the day after he made the agonizing decision to remove his COVID-afflicted mentor from life support, Robby experiences a panic attack. Over the course of Season 2, his mental health deteriorates even further. In the finale, a nearly suicidal Robby breaks down in tears while swaddling an abandoned infant. But Robby is not alone in his despair: Dana Evans (Katherine LaNasa), The Pitt’s straight-talking charge nurse, briefly leaves the job after getting brutally assaulted by an angry patient.

This season is set in the near future on July 4, 2026 — an ideal backdrop for contemplating our national malaise. Numerous patients show up at the hospital in star-spangled attire or Revolutionary garb, lending to the overall impression/reality that America and its people are not well. While no one utters the president’s name, they don’t have to. This season paints a vivid portrait of the destruction and chaos wrought by the Trump administration and the MAHA movement.

One of the most discussed storylines involves ICE agents who show up at PTMC with an injured detainee, causing staff and patients to flee in panic, and a nurse is taken into custody. Robby eventually confronts the masked agents. “Patients come in here for help because they’re either sick or injured,” he says. “Documented or undocumented, they have a right to emergency care.” (Another immigration-related subplot concerns a young woman forced to drop out of college to care for her little brother because their parents have been deported to Haiti.)

The prescient ICE storyline was filmed shortly before the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. “We had been asking ourselves a lot of questions about how realistic this is, or not. And then, by the time we shot it, we’re like, ‘Oh, my God, yeah, okay.’ So we were pretty mild,” executive producer John Wells recently told Deadline.

HBO executives were reportedly concerned about the storyline and whether it was “balanced” and edits were made. Even though Wyle said “the negotiation was being driven by political reasons,” he was ultimately happy with the “more restrained” version of the story viewers saw.

ICE is hardly the only malevolent force in the world of The Pitt. Another pivotal arc this season followed an uninsured diabetic man who has been rationing his insulin. He falls into the “coverage gap,” making too much to qualify for Medicaid but unable to afford private health insurance. Panicked about incurring a massive amount of medical debt, he flees the hospital before completing his treatment — only to turn up at the hospital again, in much worse shape, a few hours later.

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Another prevalent theme is the widespread mistrust of the medical establishment. Already exhausted and demoralized, the doctors and nurses of The Pitt often have to care for people who are openly hostile to their profession. There are strident anti-vaxxers suing the very doctors who saved their child’s life. There’s a self-proclaimed health nut with liver failure caused by an overdose of turmeric supplements. And there’s even a pregnant woman with life-threatening preeclampsia who is determined to have a wild birth.

Worst of all, no one with political power is doing anything to bolster the public’s faith in the medical profession; quite the opposite. While discussing the turmeric case with a colleague, second-year resident Trinity Santos (Isa Briones) says the woman should have checked with her doctor about a safe dosage, or consulted a reputable source, like the CDC website.

“Oh wait, I forgot,” she says sarcastically. “It’s now a medical toxic waste site.”

If only she were wrong.

Meredith Blake is the culture columnist for The Contrarian

Once again, Republicans caved and gave Donald Trump a blank check.

Jen spoke with Sen. Murphy about Republicans failing to carry out their constitutional obligations, the future of the war, the future of NATO, and the absurdity of sending someone like Jared Kushner or Steve Witkoff to negotiate a peace deal with Iran.

Jen also spoke with social-media star and activist Carlos Eduardo Espina [19:15] about the pivotal Senate race in Texas, how Carlos was able to bring in 400,000 new voters in the Democratic primary, and why voters are looking for candidates who can define a new vision for American politics.

Grandma Jenni was probably a very good cook, but by the time I was old enough to stand near her at the stove, she only ever made three dishes, each a perfect example of the food she grew up with in Sopron, Hungary — then Austro-Hungary.

When she visited us in New Jersey, we demanded she make wiener schnitzel and cucumber salad. On rare occasions there would be palatschinken, an eggier, less delicate version of a crepe, popular in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Austria.

It was my grandmother’s palatschinken I thought of when Péter Magyar was elected prime minister of Hungary.

I was only 12 when Grandma died, but, along with the enduring memories of her cooking, I remember her viscerally: as warmth, comfort, and softness.

I hope you try this recipe and celebrate not only the overthrow of Viktor Orbán and the hopeful message of re-democratization that comes with it, but also the joy and love that a humble family recipe can bring.

Notes:

• Palatschinken are traditionally filled with apricot jam, but do what makes you happy. Plum butter (povidl in German) or walnuts ground with sugar are also popular fillings. Chocolate-hazelnut spread is a more modern approach that I gleefully recommend. I’ve no doubt Jenni would approve.

• My grandma (and later my “Uncle” Walter, who would make us palatschinken when he visited) didn’t believe in serving the jam-filled pancakes with anything fancier than a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top. That said, a drizzle of chocolate sauce and some whipped cream….

• Palatschinken can be made ahead and refrigerated until ready to serve. Reheat the pancakes in a 325°F/160°C oven, uncovered, until the filling is warmed through and the edges begin to crisp a little.

• Try to use a good-quality apricot jam, such as the Austrian brand D’Arbo, which isn’t as sweet as most American brands.

• Savory fillings work just as nicely. Leave out the 1 tablespoon of sugar. Whiz up some cottage cheese or ricotta with some herbs and Parmesan cheese, or ham and cheese and then bake in the oven for 15 minutes until warm and heated through. Sprinkle with paprika to keep the Hungarian vibe.

Marissa Rothkopf Bates writes about food for the New York Times, Newsweek (RIP) and Publishers’ Weekly among others. Her newest book, “The Secret Life of Chocolate Chip Cookies,” is available wherever fine books are sold. Find her on Substack here.

Name: Winnie

Age: One

Breed: Retriever - Labrador & Mix

Hobbies: Playing with other dogs, going for runs, and napping in the car!

Best Moment: Coaching my foster mom during her half-marathon training (yup, I ran with her!).

Fun Fact: My adoption fees have been generously waived!

Name: Erwin

Age: One

Breed: Retriever-Labrador mix

Hobbies: Helping out with household chores, stopping at the dog park, and snacking on treats!

Worst/Best Moment:

Best: Nailing all my cool new tricks! [i have a cute video of him doing tricks :) ]

Worst: Falling asleep during movie night with my foster family (they took photo evidence!).

Ciera Stone is a editorial associate at The Contrarian.

The public loves it when the people who give the news become the news.

Amid war, the dawn of a new Major League Baseball season, and the start of the NBA Playoffs, people are talking about a story of far lesser importance. The rumored affair between an NFL reporter and a football coach is the latest example of how easily the public’s curiosity can be piqued by behind-the-scenes drama involving prominent sports media members.

When the New York Post’s Page Six released photos last week of NFL reporter Dianna Russini and New England Patriots Head Coach Mike Vrabel holding hands and spending time together at a resort, you can imagine what ensued — especially because both are married. After initially publicly supporting their employee, The Athletic and the New York Times began an investigation focused on the conduct between Russini and Vrabel.

Russini resigned a week after the photos were published.

“I have covered the NFL with professionalism and dedication throughout my career, and I stand behind every story I have ever published,” she wrote in a letter to The Athletic Executive Editor Steven Ginsberg. “When the Page Six item first appeared, The Athletic supported me unequivocally, expressed confidence in my work and pride in my journalism. For that I am grateful. In the days that followed, unfortunately, commentators in various media have engaged in self-feeding speculation that is simply unmoored from the facts Moreover, this media frenzy is hurtling forward without regard for the review process The Athletic is trying to complete. It continues to escalate, fueled by repeated leaks, and I have no interest in submitting to a public inquiry that has already caused far more damage than I am willing to accept,” she continued.

“Rather than allowing this to continue, I have decided to step aside now — before my current contract expires on June 30. I do so not because I accept the narrative that has been constructed around this episode, but because I refuse to lend it further oxygen or to let it define me or my career.”

Professors in journalism ethics classes will be teaching this for decades.

“There is an integrity issue because what she can put out as unnamed sources, being Mike Vrabel, right, could impact what the Patriots are able to do and whatnot, and that is a slippery slope that’s really bad,” said FOX Sports Radio’s Rob Parker, who called for Russini to be fired before she announced her resignation. “To all the female sportswriters who I know and have worked side-by-side with, I feel bad because this is always the pushback about women being in this business…. It’s unfair.”

Though the situation has provided, and will continue to, endless material for social media discussions and podcasts, Russini’s career is at a crucial juncture. Men tend to survive things like this; women don’t. And as The Athletic investigates, it feels like Vrabel has been shielded by his bosses. As the NFL Draft approaches, Vrabel did not take part in the team’s pre-draft press conference, although reports indicated that was decided before the photos were released.

The discomfort transcends the involved parties.

“Everybody’s asking me about Dianna Russini, wanting me to say something about Dianna Russini, and I’m like really uncomfortable,” sports commentator Dan Le Batard said on his show after the photos were released. “I’m really uncomfortable with all of this and sort of the dirtiness of what my profession has become.”

The relationships between notable sports personalities in the sports media landscape are often close ones, given that there’s so much crossover on the path to stardom and how the industry is structured. And through it may be uneasy for some to speak on the public matters of their friends and colleagues, it’s also disingenuous to stay silent.

Tiger Woods’ extramarital affairs were free game. When Vrabel’s employer, Patriots’ owner Bob Kraft, was charged in 2019 for two counts of first-degree solicitation after a videotape revealed he received oral and manual sex from women at a massage parlor, it was front-page news. Similarly, when former University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore was arrested for a domestic incident, there was no shortage of hot takes. Just this week, Moore was sentenced to 18 months of probation on misdemeanor charges.

When your job is to report or give your opinion on the news, then that’s what you have to do, despite how bewildering that idea may be in an industry where “not becoming the story” is the first rule.

“I am amazed at how many people are able to make a living covering us,” sports commentator Bomani Jones recently said on his podcast. “I can name people that make a living talking about me,” he joked. “It floors me that people care that much, particularly about sports media.”

Ironically, Jones’ comments were not aimed at Russini and Vrabel; he was addressing the latest chapter in the ongoing feud between ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and sports commentator Jason Whitlock. “In Smith, Whitlock has found an easy, high-value target. Smith can’t help but pay attention to what is said about him. Too often, he will give the criticisms airtime. It’s an affliction that is way too common these days amongst ESPN stars,” Demetri Ravanos recently wrote for Awful Announcing, a site dedicated to covering sports media.

Last year, former FOX Sports host Joy Taylor was at the center of a sports media scandal when she was accused of contributing to the toxic and misogynistic antics in the industry when it was alleged in a lawsuit that she rose to prominence by sleeping her way to the top. Earlier this year, Lynn Jones, a local reporter in Jacksonville, Fla., became a trending topic when she broke sports journalism protocol by giving Jaguars first-year head coach Liam Coen a pep talk instead of asking a question after the Jaguars lost in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

In the “old days,” personal drama, gossip, and beefs among sports personalities were confined to the sports media industry. Now they must treat familiar faces like the ones they cover in sports. It’s harder when your words can harm your friends.

In every era of sports media, the public has played a huge part in who and what is covered, as audience demand dictates coverage. Over the past few years, it has become clear that gossip and drama connected to sports personalities is coveted. It’s a wake-up call for those who need to do some house cleaning — and a reminder to aspiring journalists about the importance of keeping your nose clean.

Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University. Follow his personal Substack to keep up with more of his work.

Carlos Eduardo Espina, nonprofit director, activist, and content creator, joins Jen to share what he saw during Talarico’s primary campaign and what other Democrats ought to learn from it. Significantly, Espina notes that voters are looking for candidates who can define a new vision for American politics. It is increasingly clear that people have grown weary of “business as usual” politics.

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Carlos Eduardo Espina is a nonprofit director, activist, and content creator who works to uplift the immigrant community through social media content, community organizing, and charitable causes. Espina leads the nonprofit organization “Migrantes Unidos” and his community center in Houston, Texas. He is the most followed Latino activist in the United States.

Jen Rubin

Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of the Contrarian. We are thrilled to have back with us the man of the hour, the man of the week, the man, maybe, of the year, Carlos Eduardo Espina. He has the largest audience, mostly Spanish-speaking, in the United States, you have about 12 million worldwide, I think, Carlos? And you are everywhere. Congratulations, and welcome back!

Carlos Espina

No, thank you very much! I love coming on here and speaking with your audience, I feel like it’s always such a great time, so anytime you want to have me on, just let me know.

Jen Rubin

We are thrilled to have you. You played a huge role in James Talarico’s win in Texas. Tell us what you did, and the response you got.

Carlos Espina

We were gonna meet originally at the LULAC conference. We were both scheduled to speak at, I think it was in August of last year, so his team reached out to me about meeting there, but then he actually wasn’t able to make it because of the quorum break, so we still stayed in touch, got to meet in September of last year. you know, his team’s like, we just want you to meet him. We think when you talk to him, you’re gonna like him, and essentially, that’s what happened. I spoke to him, liked him, you know, asked him, hey, what does your outreach look like in Spanish? And at that point, he really didn’t have much going on, you know, media-wise in Spanish.

So, you know, we started just kind of collaborating together, helped him launch his Spanish social media, got him up to, like, 50-something thousand followers in a day. Then, you know, started doing some other content, not really because he was asking me to, I was just, you know, pay attention to his campaign and be like, wow, he got a thousand people at this place, let me react to this, you know? He just proposed this, he’s saying this, and it was very natural, you know, just had a great relationship, spoke at some of his campaign events, and I think the biggest part of what I did, we actually kind of collaborated on a Spanish ad. So, you know, they did their first Spanish ad, and then I was like, hey, you know, I think it would be cool if I was in one, you know, I think it would resonate a lot more with people, and they liked the idea, we tested it, and they did super well, and they ran it all the way through the election.

But then more than that, it was also just kind of like, you know, bouncing ideas back and forth, this is what people are saying, you know, having that connection with the community, which obviously he is very good at, you know, listening to people and, you know, just hearing what their concerns are. So it just kind of became more of a friendship, and I’m really happy to support him.

Jen Rubin

It was amazingly successful, and the turnout of new voters, of young voters, of Hispanic voters was huge. What could you advise other Democrats to do? You had so much success with those three groups, some of which are duplicative of one another, a lot of new Hispanic voters, a lot of young Hispanic voters. What advice would you give to other Democrats?

Carlos Espina

I think right now we’re in a moment, right, where it’s very clear people don’t want Donald Trump, they don’t want Trump’s vision for America, right? But the winning candidates are the ones who define what their vision is for America, right? A lot of people are like, yeah, you know, I don’t want to, you know, continue with Trump, I want to vote in a different way, but I also don’t want to go back to politics as usual, as you will hear, you know, the establishment way of doing things, and not necessarily saying, hey, doesn’t mean… you know, people correlate that with, oh, people don’t want the same people as always, which, you know, in some cases is true, but a lot of times it’s you know, what is the good things that the Democratic Party has done in the last, you know, 20 years, and what can we salvage from that?

But what also needs to be modified, and what is, you know, looking inwards look like? So if you hear, you know, Tallarico’s speeches, I think what, you know, a lot of people like is he’ll recognize, hey, you know, Democrats, we failed on this, or, you know, the previous administrations were not good on this, and that’s kind of what people want to hear, you know, saying, hey. I want to change, but I want to go in a different direction than maybe we’ve tried in the past, and I think the best candidates are the ones who are able to lay out that vision in a way that makes sense to people, but in a way that also people, understand.

Jen Rubin

Right. He talks about how it’s not left versus right, but bottom versus top, but it’s interesting how he phrases it. He doesn’t attack people who are rich. He simply says they need to start paying their fair share, that it’s not fair to people at the middle and the bottom. Talk to us about how that resonates with, your audience. Do they appreciate that? Because, like anyone, you know, people do want to succeed, they do want to have the aspiration to get wealthy, but people feel like the system is broken, and that people at the top are really exploiting them.

Carlos Espina

You know, well, I think this is going back to the traps that the Democratic Party fell to in the past that people want to move away from. One of them is, you know, I obviously, as a Latino, recognize the importance of identity in politics, but at the end of the day, we can’t generalize everyone because, oh, you have money, or because you’re this race or that race. At the end of the day, we have to evaluate people for who they are and what they do, and I think his message resonates with people because, hey, the reality is. you know, at least the people I speak to, a lot of them, they want to be rich, you know, and they aspire to be that. But at the same time, there’s ways of doing that morally, right?

And so I think what Talarico’s been able to do is say, you know, I’m going to speak to you, I don’t care, you know, who you are, where you come from, you know, your economic status, your race, etc. I understand that all of us have different needs, but at the same time, we have a lot more that unites us than divides us, and that’s why his message becomes, you know, it’s not really if you’re a Democrat, if you’re a Republican, if you’re this, this, and that, it’s like, it’s a bigger message of, hey, we’re all, you know, struggling to make ends meet, we’re all facing the same things, we’re all, you know, having the same issues, and so how can we have a more unified message?

And I think he’s been able to, you know, recognize people’s diversity and people’s, you know, identities, but at the same time, not reducing his political positions to saying, oh, this person is good because of this label, or they’re bad because of this other label, you know? Politics is a lot more complex. It’s not a black or white issue. It’s like, there’s a lot of gray area when it comes to evaluating people and when it comes to policy, and I think he just gets it, if you want to put it that way.

Jen Rubin

One thing he does better than any other Democrat I’ve seen is talk sincerely about his faith, and about what it means for him to be a Christian. How important is that, and how did that resonate with your audience, many of whom, not all, are Catholic, and may not be from the same denomination as he is, but are deeply religious people of faith?

Carlos Espina

Yeah, well, I think that’s another, you know, going back to the analysis of the Democratic Party, I think, obviously, I’m not gonna say, hey, if you’re, you know, atheist, then you should be pushing religion. Like, it has to be natural to you, but obviously, I mean, this is a guy who it comes very natural to, and we also shouldn’t shy away from, you know, hey, if I believe, you know, poor people should be fed, and you know, immigrants should be held because of my religious upbringing and my religious understanding, well, you shouldn’t shy away from that. You should lean into that, because there’s millions of people all over the country who think the same way, you know?

I talk to people every day, and you ask them, what do you think about this moment? You know, it’s immoral, what’s going on. I mean, we’ve seen the back and forth, maybe we’ll get into it, right? Between Trump and the Pope. I mean, this is… these are things we’re seeing that are much bigger than, you know, left versus right, or Democrat versus Republican. This is… you know, what are your morals, what are your beliefs, and are you a general, or you consider yourself to be a good person or not? And I think that framing has really resonated with people.

We’re like, hey, you know, I’m… I’m kind of, you know, don’t want to identify as a Democrat, but at the same time, like, hey, you know, I’m a pretty religious person, and this guy’s speaking to me in a way that I understand, and I think that’s just so powerful, and we really need to continue to you know, really lean into that religious messaging, especially because I feel like, you know, Republicans have really co-opted, right, what it means to be religious, and a lot of people say, oh, well, I’m religious, so therefore I have to vote Republican, and it’s not necessarily the case, right? So I think he’s made a good argument for religious people of why we should see the world in the way that we do as progressives, as Democrats. And I think it’s really stuck with a lot of people.

Jen Rubin

I think you’re absolutely right that when you get away from right, left, and you talk about right and wrong, that’s when people feel like they can identify with you, no matter what their background is. I did want to talk to you about Donald Trump and Vance’s Language with the Pope. I’m not Catholic, but I was deeply offended. This is kind of somewhere between crazy and just, you know, outrageous. How has that resonated in your audience? Do they just brush it off because they always knew he was, you know, a ridiculous person? Or has that kind of brought home to them that he really is a fraud, that he’s using religion, he’s using them, kind of to just advance his own perspective, his own power?

Carlos Espina

Yeah, so, I mean, here we have different subsections of the community, right? There’s the people who… I’ve always known Donald Trump’s a disaster, which is what I would consider myself to be. Then there’s the people, you know, who voted for him, but already were regretting it, you know, before all of this happened. Then there’s the people who still supported him, and now are like, hey, okay, this is going too far. And then there’s the bigger audience, which is the people who generally, you know, are not very political, they don’t have any super strong… I mean, they know that there’s things about Trump that they don’t like, but it’s just like, they’re not super, super strong about it, and they’re super strong about this, you know?

It’s like, you can disagree on, you know, policy, and foreign policy, and the economy, but, like, I think for a lot of people, there’s a hard line when it comes to religion of, like, okay, you know, this is not… going back to what I said earlier, this is not, like, a conservative or progressive thing. This is, like. do you just respect other people? Like, do you respect God? Do you respect religion? Do you respect, you know, I just, like, other human beings in general, I don’t know how else to put it. And so I have noticed a lot of those people who are, like, you know, not really trying Trumpy, not really super fans of him, but also not, like, super strong feelings against him, are not like, okay, yeah, this guy’s completely lost the plot. So it’s moved a lot of more of that middle ground.

Obviously, there’s a segment which is smaller every day, but the segment of people who… you know, as he said many years ago, he could shoot someone and they would still support him. I mean, those people are always gonna exist, but I think the vast majority are now like, okay, yeah, this is… this is way too much.

Jen Rubin

I think that’s exactly right. It’s about just simple respect, and, you know, it’s whether it’s disrespectful, or you think it’s blasphemous, it is, really kind of, bracing to see the president behave this way. Pretty soon, James Talarico’s gonna have an opponent. It’s either gonna be John Cornyn or Paxton. What does he have to do between now and the general election to continue to build his audience, to get his message out? What are the things he’s working on, and what do you think he needs to do to really get him all the way home, now that he has a general audience, not just a Democratic audience?

Carlos Espina

Yeah, well, I think he’s been very smart since the beginning, saying, you know, there’s a lot of people, like, oh, I want this person to be the Republican nominee, or the other one, because they’ll be easier to beat. his message has always been clear, you know, no matter who we’re up against, I think the message stays the same, and I think that’s exactly what people want to hear, because when you have politicians who mold their message to fit whatever campaign they’re running. you know, people are like, okay, who is this guy?

But I think people have appreciated Talarico’s consistency on the issues, and, you know, he’s gonna run a campaign, his style, whether it’s against Cornyn, whether it’s against Paxton, whether it’s, you know, against whoever, and so I think that’s really resonated with people. But I think he’s also doing the important work of just being on the ground and really getting to understand the community, in the sense that right now he’s… many people are like, oh, he’s kind of disappeared, he’s laying low, he’s doing a lot of groundwork in the sense of, you know, what are people hearing, what are people feeling, so he can better inform his message and his policy.

And I think we’re gonna see, you know, once this Republican primary ends, which I think Tallarico’s been very smart in just kind of laying back and letting them go at each other, I think we’re gonna see. a very, versatile campaign, and I say versatile, because you never know what they’re gonna try to pull up on him, you know, what they’re gonna attack him for, and you know, but I think this is a guy who… I mean, the worst things they could find, right, were, like. woke tweets from 2020 or something, like, I think he’s a pretty, you know, I think he’s a pretty solid guy, right? Where, like, he’s prepared for whatever they throw his way, but a lot of it will just depend, like, you never know what these people are capable of making up, what they’re capable of doing, but I think he’s just gonna stay consistently on message, and that’s what people are are gonna like, because, you know, on the other hand, you have… well, you have Paxton, who’s just… I mean, we don’t really want to get into how disastrous he is. I think anyone watching this is aware of that.

But then you have John Cornyn, right, who tries to play both sides, where he’s… one day he’s a moderate, the other day he’s a hardcore MAGA Republican, and, like, people don’t like that. It’s like, whatever your views are, you know, you stick to them. In any case, I think that’s why people like Paxton, you know, he’s a disaster, but he’s consistently a disaster. You know, it’s like, okay, you know, at least I can kind of respect that. But yeah, I think Tallarico’s just gonna stick to his message, and he’s gonna, you know, speak to people, meet them where they’re at, and whoever else is on the other side, that’s the least of it.

Jen Rubin

One of the other factors going on here is, and Democrats have had this problem, Republicans have it too, is that there are a lot of old people who have been in office their entire lives.

And whether it’s Paxton or whether it’s Cornyn, these guys are old enough to be James’ parents, frankly, and they’ve been around for forever, and they’ve kind of become creatures of Washington. How strong is the sentiment that these people have gotten out of touch with Texas. I don’t think of John Cornyn now, really, as being a Texan, or even Ken Paxton. They’re so focused on Washington national politics. Is that something that, is felt in, Texas, and that people want someone who’s one of them, who’s in the community, who’s a little bit younger and fresher, not a professional politician.

Carlos Espina

Yeah, and I don’t think that’s just in Texas, it’s all around the country, right? People are looking for a different way of doing politics, and the way it’s like, the reality is, you know, people have been in politics for 15, 20, 30 plus years, they’ve… not to say that they’ve completely lost, you know, the connection they once maybe had with the community, but… you know, they move in different spaces. They’re not interacting with people in the same way. They’re not, you know, forced to think about, hey, what is my community thinking, doing, and feeling?

And so I think— more than the age aspect—is people want someone who they feel understands them, and the reality is, a lot of Texans are starting to realize that, you know, neither John Cornyn nor Ken Paxton understand me. You know, they understand their rich friends, they understand, you know, the people who are financing their campaigns, but they don’t understand me, and I think that is really what’s making the difference right now. I mean, even if you look at you know, the crowd size that each is pulling. You would say, oh, Talarico, well, okay, he’s getting people in Houston and Austin. I mean, he’s gone to some of the most rural areas of the state, and is still pulling massive crowds, and obviously not everyone who goes to those events maybe is gonna support him later on, but at least they’re listening to him, and I think the first step to converting, you know, people back to the Democratic side is for them to listen to our message, because the reality is. for many years now, people have just completely tuned out the Democrats.

They say, hey, well, they have nothing, you know, interesting for me, and I’m just gonna completely ignore them, and now they’re like, okay, well, maybe there is, you know, a way of doing this a little bit different. And it goes back to what I was mentioning earlier. It’s like, he’s presenting, yes, a democratic, progressive platform, but in a different way that’s been done before. You know, different ideas. different ways of achieving those ideas, and I think that’s what’s connecting with voters. And like I said, that’s something that’s happening all over the country. People want a different way of doing politics.

Jen Rubin

So important. Even if you don’t win in a rural area, if you lower the margin, those people can’t make out the majority. And if you don’t show up, people don’t know who you are. Last topic for you. We have seen, obviously, the horrific abuses of ice and the damage it’s done to communities, but it’s hard to get through a day and not see something about Texas, but on the economic front. Restaurants are suffering. Construction is suffering. Agriculture is suffering. How big an economic problem has that been? And do you think people who are business people, or people who are more financially minded might be attracted to a more reasonable message that James is offering because of the impact it’s having on the economy?

Carlos Espina

Yeah, I think that’s the biggest thing, right? It’s like, people support certain ideas in theory until they realize that those ideas don’t really work, and that they’re affecting them, you know? One of them being, oh, mass deportations, you know, might sound flashy, you know, in the media, until you realize, hey, mass deportations means getting rid of people in your community who are working hard, paying taxes, contributing, and then you’re like, oh, hold up, I didn’t mean, like, that kind of mass deportations!

You know, we’re seeing a lot of that, but it’s happening all over, and I think the Trump administration’s even realizing, you know, yesterday, the news secretary, Mark Wayne Mullen, is like, hey, we’re gonna continue doing, like, ICE stuff, but a lot more discreetly, you know, we don’t want to be so much in the news, we don’t want people, like. because there’s two things, right? There’s one, like, the real impact of people who are actually being detained and, you know, being deported, but then there’s also the fear aspect of it, of, like, we have the World Cup who is coming up, and, like, there’s a lot of people who are not detained, but they’re like, I don’t want to be detained, so I’m just not gonna go, you know?

Obviously, what is the economic impact of all the people who have already been rounded up and deported and everything? but then the other people who have changed their habits because of what is happening, you know? People are going out less, they’re spending less, and so they’re still here in the U.S, but their economic activity has been greatly reduced, or maybe they’re just, you know… it’s hard to say they’re not going to work because people are still working regardless of everything, but they’re doing so in a way, you know, that’s not, like, moving the economy as much. They’re not going, you know, to the mall after work to spend money, and you know, if they’re not spending money at the mall, then, you know, the mall is suffering, and they’re not spending money at the movie theaters. The movie theaters, you know, it’s an all-encompassing thing. And so I’ve seen that, you know, in Texas, I’ve seen that all over.

Just go to any, I mean, major city, and one of the good ways that I like to do is, whenever you get in a taxi or Uber, whatever you use, just ask them, you know, how have things been recently? And most people in most cities will tell you, hey, you know, tourism is down, people moving around is down, the economy is getting tougher, and so… people might not necessarily be progressive Democrats, but they’re like, hey, you know, things… objectively were better before because I had more money in my pocket, you know?

People were, you know, just happier all around, and not to say everything was perfect, but now we’re in a disaster, and that’s kind of at the national level, what you’re seeing of this. every special election, every, you know, from little municipalities all the way to, you know, special congressional elections, we’re seeing Democrats overperform, and the reason why is the environment that Trump’s created is just one that’s not working for people.

Jen Rubin

Absolutely. So, if people want to find out more about James, or they want to join the campaign, or they want to go to an event, what do they do? Where do they go?

Carlos Espina

I would say, what I really like about James is he’s a very advanced technological guy. He has a very good and functioning website, which you used to say, like, okay, that’s kind of obvious, but you, you know, there’s a lot of candidates who don’t have very good website, good social media, so I think, you know, obviously if you go to his social media profiles, James Talarico, you’re gonna find all this stuff in his bio, you know, all these links and stuff, but his website itself, you know, what I’ve enjoyed is you’ll find on there not just events that he’s actually hosting, but, like, other events that members in the community are hosting for him, you know, like block walks, things like that,

And I would really just encourage as many people you know, to get involved, and if you’re out of the state, well, obviously, donations go a long way, because we know that Texas is a very, very, very big state, and a very expensive state, and when you’re up against whoever the Republicans are gonna be, we know they’re gonna be well-funded, they’re gonna have deep pockets, and so, any kind of support helps, and yeah, I think, you know, together, we can… I’m not gonna get overly optimistic and guarantee we’re gonna win, but I think you know, it’s… we have a really good shot, and I’ll leave it at that.

Jen Rubin

Money’s not everything, but it is a sign of enthusiasm, and he raised $27 million.

Carlos Espina

Yeah, I saw that, I was like, wow!

Jen Rubin

And that’s not PAC money, folks. That’s moderate gifts, that’s small donors, so that is a measure, I think, of the enthusiasm that he’s generated. Well, we are incredibly excited at the concert about this race. We’re going to check in with you. Best of luck, and we will keep an eye on Texas. And the Republicans are gonna have to pick either the guy who turns himself into a pretzel, or the guy who’s really one of the most extreme MAGA types in the country. So, whichever it is, I think it’ll be a fun general election matchup. Thank you, Carlos. For sharing it with us. Thank you for visiting. We can’t wait to have you back and check in on the campaign as things progress.

Carlos Espina

Yeah, no, we’ll be in touch. Thanks so much, and have a good day, all my friends at the Contrarian.

Jen Rubin

You too, take care, bye-bye.

RJ draws several editorial cartoons each week for his substack, e pluribus cartoonum, and for Roll Call, the newspaper of Congress and Capitol Hill. His work is widely syndicated to print newspapers by Cagle Cartoons.

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After 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s despotic rule, Hungarians turned out in overwhelming numbers to deliver a landslide victory to Péter Magyar (whose name literally means “Hungarian”) and his center-right Tisza Party. The victory was so large Viktor Orbán could not dispute the results. The new majority is large enough to enact constitutional reforms.

Credit goes to the youthful Magyar (forty-five years old), who came from the ranks of Orbán’s Fidesz Party. (Note to file: Democracy advocates need defectors.) On his path to victory, he weathered a public/political feud with his ex-wife (whom he taped acknowledging the Orbán regime’s corruption), a failed “honey trap” plot, and every election trick in the book (from gerrymandering to propaganda from state-controlled media to hacking and wiretapping to threats on his life).

Orbán had considerable advantages. As scholar Anne Applebaum pointed out, with control of the “judiciary, bureaucracy, and universities, as well as a group of oligarchic companies that in turn controlled a good chunk of the economy… Orbán used his control of the state to build an extraordinary web of international illiberal and far-right supporters, and funding mechanisms to support some of them.” They did not help. Indeed, Orbán may have been harmed by his coziness with Trump and with Russia. (Hungarians on election night chanted “Russians, go home!” )

Magyar’s campaign was a model of tenacity and street smarts. Rather than create a new party, he revived a moribund one. He “toured Hungary relentlessly for two years, visiting hundreds of cities, towns and villages in an effort to win over some of Orbán’s rural support,” the Associated Press explained. “He appeared before thousands of supporters on Saturday on University Square in Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city and traditionally a Fidesz stronghold.”

Magyar focused incessantly on Orbán’s corruption, the economic penalties Hungary incurred because of EU sanctions, restoration of democracy, and national reunification. Pledging renewal and reconciliation, he remained vague on some issues (e.g., LGBTQ+ rights, Ukraine). “As a former member of Fidesz himself, he was able to speak with extra conviction about Fidesz’s corruption,” Applebaum noted. “He portrayed himself as a part of the European, democratic, law-abiding center-right. He waved a lot of Hungarian flags, as did his supporters.”

In his victory speech, Magyar offered a message that should inform democratic movements worldwide. “From now on, we will no longer be a country without consequences,” he declared. He promised that “those who have robbed the country will be held accountable.” And to Orbán’s supporters, he extended his hand: “I promise you that I will also be your prime minister, and I will work to heal wounds and help us accept each other, even if we represent different views.”

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The massive turnout (an estimated 77.8%!), shattered records, reflecting both economic pain (the highest unemployment in a decade, growth that lagged other Eastern European countries, and a decrepit healthcare system) but also many young adults’ excitement. (The youth vote is critical in dislodging autocrats. The New York Times noted that Generation Z movements “have toppled governments in Bulgaria, Madagascar and Nepal over the past year.”)

It would be a mistake for democracy defenders in other countries to run a carbon copy of Magyar’s campaign. In the U.S., for example, a conservative from Republican ranks is unlikely to galvanize the wide array of groups in the resistance. Issues that in Hungary can be put to one side (e.g., LGBTQ+ rights) are an essential part of the message supporting America’s pluralistic democracy and commitment to self-determination.

However, there are lessons that can carry over to the U.S. context:

• Corruption and economic issues are inextricably linked. A despot and his cronies take from ordinary people to fatten their own wallets.

• Patriotism and unity are powerful emotions. Casting the autocrat as the one who divided the country, brought disgrace on it, and divided fellow citizens can be extremely effective.

• Broad coalitions are essential. Though certain issues are dealbreakers (e.g., reform, democracy), constituencies need not agree on everything. Purity tests are for losers.

• Democracy defenders can win even if the playing field is badly tilted in favor of the reigning regime. Dogged effort, coalition building, and massive enthusiasm (converted into record turnout) can overcome considerable obstacles.

• Upending an entrenched autocrat takes resilience and patience. Errors, legislative losses, and scandals inevitably occur — but tenacious dedication to democracy can weather temporary setbacks.

• Optimism and joy are essential to a pro-democracy movement, serving as a powerful counterweight to the atmosphere of fear and the dystopian imagery despots cultivate.

• Democracy defenders must do the hard work to win. There is no substitute for active participation, organization, and voting en masse. People must dedicate time, money, and energy if they want to oust an autocrat.

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The outpouring of joy evident on election night in the streets and squares of Hungary reflected ordinary people’s abiding love of freedom and democracy. When roused and inspired (and pushed to their limit by a corrupt regime), they overcame fear and isolation to join fellow citizens in a noble cause.

The undaunted, unrelenting, and unafraid Magyar and the people of Hungary he inspired deserve our thanks and praise. They powerfully demonstrated what is possible when ordinary people take ownership of their country and their democracy. If we want to oust our own autocrat, Americans must muster the same doggedness, commitment, patriotism, sound judgment, and courage Hungarians displayed.

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Last month, Amy Goodman hopped on a last-minute flight from Mexico City to Los Angeles to attend the Academy Awards in support of Armed Only With a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Arnaud, an Oscar-nominated short documentary about a former colleague who was killed in Ukraine. She showed up at the Dolby Theatre in casual attire, and immediately caught the attention of a sharply-dressed man in a three-piece suit.

“He yells to me across the room, ‘You are brave!’” Goodman recalled recently. “And I said, ‘Oh, thank you. Do you know Democracy Now?’ And he said, ‘What’s Democracy Now? I’m talking about what you’re wearing.’”

“Within an hour,” she says, “ I hightailed it out of there in my high-tops.”

Goodman is not usually the type to hightail it out of anywhere, no matter how hostile the terrain. The host and executive producer of Democracy Now! has spent the last three decades asking tough questions of those in power, from oil executives in Nigeria to chronically evasive White House officials. Her fearless work as a journalist is now the focus of Steal This Story, Please!, a documentary currently in select theaters.

Directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal (whose credits include such essential documentaries as Trouble the Water and The Janes), Steal This Story, Please! weaves together highlights from Goodman’s career, including her on-the-ground coverage of a massacre by the Indonesian military in East Timor in 1991 and her legendary grilling of Bill Clinton on election day in 2000.

Released at a moment of unprecedented media consolidation, the film shows just how prescient Goodman was when she launched Democracy Now! in 1996, pioneering a model of independent journalism that many others have since emulated. The program receives no corporate or government funding, currently airs on 1,500 public TV and radio channels worldwide, and just marked its 30th anniversary. (The Boss even showed up to celebrate.)

Steal This Story, Please! also looks at the life experiences that shaped Goodman, particularly her upbringing in a politically engaged Jewish family that thrived on debate (they argued with each other through letters printed in her brother’s homemade newspaper). Goodman says Judaism taught her that “the way you deal with the world is with intense curiosity and not being afraid to stand by your principles.”

After college, Goodman dreamed of becoming a producer on The Phil Donahue Show. Instead, she landed at WBAI, the progressive New York radio station, where she carved out an essential beat covering the people and places too often neglected by corporate media.

Goodman, Lessin, and Deal recently spoke to The Contrarian about making this documentary and its timely message about the importance of independent media.

The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.

How did this project originate?

Deal: Our friend Karen Ranucci, who had worked with Democracy Now! years ago, proposed the idea to us. For us, it was a no-brainer. The only question we had was will Amy, who is so outward-facing, allow us to make it about her? But Amy said yes, and we’re super grateful that she did, because this film gave us something meaningful and purposeful to be doing in a really difficult time in our history.

Amy, you’re used to telling other people’s stories. Was it hard for you to be the subject of someone else’s story and cede that control?

Goodman: I am very private, but I really thought it was worth the price, because the message was about the importance of independent media. Carl and Tia are masters, both as archivists and as artisans of the craft of directing. I just thought it was too important to pass up this chance.

Lessin: Like any documentary participant, Amy was definitely hesitant. Even when she said yes, I think she was still taking a leap of faith, as anyone would, especially someone who knows how to edit and understands that we’re compressing 30 years into 90 minutes. We had final cut, which probably was very hard for Amy, because she is in control of her program from soup to nuts. But she was really gracious and very generous not only with her time, but also with her incredible stash of field tapes and film footage.

It strikes me that revisiting some of this might also have been difficult for you, Amy, particularly the massacre in East Timor in 1991, where you were beaten and witnessed the death of hundreds of people.

Goodman: I live with that every day. East Timor is one of the great genocides of the late 20th century. A third of the population of East Timor was killed by the Indonesian military — armed, trained, and financed by the United States. I survived that particular massacre where more than 270 Timorese were killed — November 12, 1991. In the United States, [East Timor] is hardly known, and yet we’re connected to them through the barrel of a gun. The only way to deal with it is to keep reporting on it and to keep challenging those in power who are making it possible.

You launched Democracy Now! 30 years ago, just after the Telecommunications Act had just been passed and there was a lot of concern about media consolidation. Did you ever expect it could get this bad?

Goodman: We’ve been talking about the corporate media and the danger of corporations running newsrooms for decades. There was always resistance. I’ll never forget Charlie Rose saying, “What do you mean, independent media? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Now those very people who back then were saying, “What are you talking about?” are the ones who are feeling so much pain, and they, too, are sounding the alarm. We can’t sound it loud enough. Independent media is essential to the functioning of a democratic society.

I’ll give one example just from the last few weeks. It looks pretty clear that the US hit this girls’ school in southern Iran, and more than 170 people were killed, the vast majority of them school girls. We had a Washington Post reporter [on the show] who had done an analysis of this whole thing, except that she wasn’t a Washington Post reporter anymore. A week or two before, she had been laid off. Jeff Bezos, the billionaire tech bro who founded Amazon, takes over The Washington Post. They adopt the slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” and he cuts a third of the newsroom, [including] almost the entire Middle East Division, and the US attacks Iran.

Lessin: That was the very same week they put the Melania doc in theaters. Who paid for the Melania doc? Amazon. It was an obscene price tag — $40 million for the film, much of which went into the pockets of the Trumps. So not only was it a bad movie, essentially a commercial about Melania Trump and her fashion sense, but it was basically a bribe to the Trump administration. I think that says it all, yeah, this is where they’re putting their money.

Carl and Tia, media consolidation has also made this a difficult moment for documentary filmmakers. I wonder what challenges you have faced getting your films made and seen?

Deal: It’s never been easy for independent storytellers in the US. Even when we did have public broadcasting money, there wasn’t a lot there. We knew at the outset of this film that we were going to have to do this on our own. We’ve developed and grown a grassroots campaign to support the release of this film. Our campaign right now is all about getting the film seen and trying to maximize its impact. We’re using the theatrical release to organize fundraisers in a lot of the major markets for these [television and radio] stations that are suffering right now.

Lessin: Just a small handful of corporations determine what gets made and what gets distributed. They also determine on what terms, and what they’re paying for these films. As Directors Guild members, we’re seeing the steady erosion of money for our craft. It’s affecting the entire creative community, not just people like us who make these political documentaries.

Goodman: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting was so important for well over half a century. As the media was becoming hyper-commercialized, it was the activists who said that we need to have a nonprofit public space to ensure quality programming. So the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was established. Now the Trump administration has eviscerated it. We’re no longer talking about CPB. We’re talking about CBP: Customs and Border Protection. Rural stations and Native American stations [are] going to feel the brunt of this. Many are going to close right at a time when we need local media to show what’s happening in our communities. It is a serious crisis.

I was really struck by one of the core themes of the film, which is the influence of Amy’s Jewish upbringing on her work.

Goodman: It’s just who I am. My grandfather was an Orthodox rabbi. My great-grandfather on my father’s side was a Hasidic rabbi. As I say in the film, my whole life was infused with those stories — the family members who survived and the family members who didn’t. It was inculcated in me: never again, for anyone, anywhere. I was always amazed, going to Hebrew school, why would people who weren’t Jewish stand up for us, hide kids in barns, put people in their attics, risk their lives to protect Jews? I was so struck by that. That [idea] of “never again, for anyone, anywhere” infuses everything that I do. I thank my parents for teaching me that.

Lessin: I didn’t know Amy’s background before I got to know her through this film. It helped me find a connection with her, because my grandparents were also Eastern European immigrants. My mother was born in Poland in 1933 and came to this country in 1941 with my grandparents. My grandfather was an Auschwitz survivor, and on my father’s side, my grandmother came from the same shtetl as Stephen Miller’s [family].

We’re making this film at a time when Judaism has been hijacked. Our grief around the Holocaust, and maybe even around October 7, has been hijacked by these right-wing forces. We’re telling a different story about Amy’s righteous commitment to social and economic justice. That is not in spite of her Jewish upbringing, it’s because of it. Her extraordinary reporting about Palestine and Israel is not in spite of her Jewish heritage. It’s exactly because of it.

Amy, the film opens with this incredible scene of you trying to get a comment from a Trump official, chasing him up multiple flights of stairs until you are out of breath. We see you put yourself in harm’s way repeatedly throughout the documentary. Where does this determination come from?

Goodman: It’s just following the tenets of good journalism, chasing the story. If someone won’t answer, persist.

​​Meredith Blake is the culture columnist for The Contrarian.

Now, California Attorney General Rob Bonta joins Jen to explain why he participated in the lawsuit and to celebrate the win. Importantly, Bonta notes that this administration is not interested in enforcing anti-trust laws. But, even without the money and resources of the federal government, states are still willing to fight for the interests of the American people.

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Rob Bonta was sworn in as California’s 34th Attorney General on April 23, 2021. He is the first person of Filipino descent and only second Asian-American to hold the position. As Attorney General, Bonta launched the Housing Justice Team to advance housing access, affordability, and equity in California and secured a ruling that the Trump Administration’s directives to terminate National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants to public health research institutions in plaintiff states were unlawful.

The following transcript has been edited for formatting.

Jen Rubin

Hi, this is Jen Rubin, Editor-in-Chief of The Contrarian. I am delighted to welcome to our program the California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, fresh from a tremendous victory in the Live Nation Ticketmaster antitrust case. Welcome, and congratulations, Attorney General.

Attorney General Rob Bonta

Thank you. My pleasure. We’re excited about the ruling, and I’m honored to be here with you.

Jen Rubin

You took over the case because the federal government essentially bugged out. They made a very weak settlement. How difficult was it to marshal all these states? 33 states plus the District of Columbia. How big an undertaking was this?

Attorney General Rob Bonta

You know, it was tough, but we were up to the task. It was tough, especially since our partner throughout the entire case, until the eve of trial, when they bailed on us, was the federal government, who has the most resources, of course. And there is a long tradition of partnership between the federal government, whether it be the FTC or the USDOJ and the states.

But having seen their, you know, their sweetheart deal, their slap-on-the-wrist settlement that was weak and unacceptable, we knew we had to fight on and keep moving forward on behalf of the American people. to not allow this unlawful, egregious conduct to continue. So, we knew we had to find a way, and we found a way. And, you know, we were in talks, you know, Texas and California and, you know, blue and red states together, talking about this, and I’m grateful that it was bipartisan, that we were able to achieve this result for the American people.

Jen Rubin

Trust law is really about protecting the interests of the consumer, to get good service, to get reasonable prices. Why were you able to show that it was operating as a monopoly in a way that hurt consumers?

Attorney General Rob Bonta

You know, we had a lot of incredible evidence, and so we were confident in our case that we brought in front of this jury. We had things like executives at Ticketmaster talking about robbing these people blind, and saying how stupid they are to pay these prices, and laughing at them. And we also explained the business model that Ticketmaster Live Nation has. They are involved in multiple areas of the live music industry.

They sell tickets, they promote the performers, and they also represent the venues. And they basically say, if you’re gonna use one, you gotta use all. They tell performers, if you want to get access to the best venues. you gotta use our promotion services. And they tell venues, if you want to get the best performers. you gotta use exclusive Ticketmaster ticket sales. And so they really, use this anti-competitive conduct and leverage, their different, the different parts of their business to benefit here. And it’s not because they’re better, it’s because they’re acting illegally, and that we could not accept, and would insist that no longer continue.

Jen Rubin

This is a huge victor. Of course, the company may choose to appeal. What are some of the lessons that might be applicable in other litigation, for example, and what are some lessons for the American people about what the states can do for them?

Attorney General Rob Bonta

Well, in terms of the lessons going forward, you know, tell the story. Make these executives eat their own words. You know, just show what they said. And, you know, when it wasn’t a public statement, when no one was looking, when they were talking with, you know, their quote-unquote guard down, and here’s what they were saying, you know, that consumers are stupid, and they’re robbing them blind, and then just describe the conduct. People get it. Juries are smart. We laid it out. You know, sometimes in antitrust case, a lot of them go to judges, and the parties waive their right to a jury.

We thought a jury could fully understand all the evidence here, and we wanted to present it to them. And we also thought that, like most Americans, there was some likelihood of some personal connection to this issue. You know, everyone’s had an experience of trying to buy a ticket on Ticketmaster, and it’s slow, and it’s expensive, and it’s a terrible experience, and people think something’s fishy because the prices are so high, and this is vindication, that it wasn’t just something fishy, it was illegal. They were treated wrongly. They were victims of the unlawful conduct of a megacorporation. And then what the show’s about states is very, very important, and I think that is the big takeaway here. It doesn’t matter if the federal government’s gonna do their job or retreat from it and abdicate their responsibility.

The federal government has long played a critical role here, but this administration is not interested in fairly and firmly applying and enforcing antitrust law. They seem to want to pick winners and losers, help their friends, enrich themselves or others. And so if they’re not gonna do it, we’re gonna do it. And I think people were wondering, do states have the legal authority? Do they have the resources? Do they have the talent, the ability to take these cases to the mat against big corporations and get a result? And I think the answer, was given yesterday.

Yes to all of the above. We can do that in states and all these cases. We will continue to do it, regardless of what the federal government does. We’re in a Nexstar Tegna case right now. We’re investigating Paramount Warner Brothers now. We are objecting under the Tunney Act to HP Juniper, which seems to be a corrupt A settlement, and we will continue to take action wherever it is necessary.

Jen Rubin

There was obviously a letter signed by about 2,000 people who work in the motion picture television news industry regarding Warner Brothers and Paramount. I know you’re in the investigative stage, but how important is it for people to tell how they are personally affected, whether it’s fear of layoffs, whether it’s loss of diversity in entertainment, whether it’s having a competitive news environment. How important is that for people like you, who then have to litigate these cases?

Attorney General Rob Bonta

It’s absolutely irreplaceable for people to speak out and talk about, you know, stakeholders who stand to have an adverse impact, or any impact, to share what that is. I’ll note the courage. involved in those who spoke out. I know that they’re worried about retaliation, or being blacklisted, or not having opportunities in the industry going forward, but yet they spoke out, and that’s powerful.

And I think there’s strength in numbers. There’s a lot of folks who are speaking out together. And we need those stories. We need that evidence of what will happen if this merger is consummated and allowed to go through, so we can adequately assess what our next step will be. So, I very much appreciate all of the input from so many in the industry who are sharing their stories about what this merger might mean to them.

Jen Rubin

At that, shadow hearing, or the spotlight hearing yesterday, you had members of the House, members of the Senate, they don’t always get along. But you didn’t have Republicans. Are they not interested in fair prices? Are they not interested in consumer satisfaction? It’s curious. In Live Nation, you had Republican Attorneys general. What’s the matter with the people on Capitol Hill?

Attorney General Rob Bonta

I don’t know, you know, there’s opportunity and possibility of some bipartisan works, you know, see Ticketmaster, Live Nation, and sometimes you don’t see it, and I don’t know why. The through line’s the same. that affordability for Americans, for consumers, is at stake. It’s the top issue that folks are thinking about these days, in addition to, you know, the durability of our democracy.

So, everyone you know, Democrat and Republican should care, and in the past, this has been bipartisan, where antitrust enforcement was bipartisan, and it should be. We all believe in free markets. We all believe consumers should be treated fairly. We all believe that there shouldn’t be illegal conduct in our market, and our market should be free and fair, and people should be able to prevail based on the quality of their product or the strength of their ideas, not because they’re cheating.

And so, it’s sad, unfortunately, to see Republicans not being engaged in the way that they should. I hope they’ll see opportunities in the future to do so. Maybe it’s because of, you know, they’re following their lessons from Trump, a person who screamed that he was going to take care of affordability on day one, and has raised it in so many ways, not by just failing to enforce antitrust law, but by imposing illegal tariffs, not once, but twice. entering a conflict with Iran that has raised prices. You know, he’s been the president of raised prices, but states are going to continue to do what we do, especially blue states, to protect our consumers, center them. championed them. Fight for them against the illegal conduct of corporations that raise their prices.

Jen Rubin

Trends we’ve seen, and what gets people very angry, is it seems that we are having a society that is increasingly of an elite few, an oligarchy, and that they take too much of the resources of society, they have too much power. And the rest of us suffer. Talk to us a little bit about antitrust, but also how your other litigation fits into that. People don’t usually think of winning against the oligarchy in court, but it’s part of the fight, isn’t it?

Attorney General Rob Bonta

Absolutely. I mean, you know, look at Paramount Warner Brothers. Secretary of War Hegseth and seemingly Donald Trump have called for this merger to go through to help the Ellisons. I mean, that’s how they’ve said it. You know, get David Ellison in charge right away. And, you know, of course, CNN, is, you know, hangs in the balance here, after, you know, CBS has already had the experience it’s had there.

And so, you know, there is a really populous through-line here. You know, we just use the law and apply it as is appropriate, but The law is designed to protect against corporate abuse, the elites acting unlawfully to hurt everyday people. And attorneys general, I’m very grateful to say, have a key role in being able to stand up for our people, to be champions of the people, the consumer, the little guy. When the big guy, the mega corporations, are abusing their power. And hurting the little guy. That’s a role we take very seriously, and we will continue to take it very, very seriously.

Jen Rubin

Well, I think it’s an untold story, not only that you, but, so many other attorneys general are cooperating. How many suits have you brought now against the Trump administration, or against, monopolies that have been blessed by the, Trump administration?

Attorney General Rob Bonta

We brought 66 lawsuits total against the Trump administration, and, I think we have at least 3 lawsuits, challenging, corporate consolidation that the Trump administration has approved, and unfortunately, we expect that to be the trend line, that he’s not gonna really do antitrust enforcement. He’s gonna pick winners and losers and help his friends and enrich himself. And his network. So, we know we gotta step up, because the people are counting on us. They deserve, someone who’s gonna fight fairly and firmly to enforce antitrust law, and we absolutely will.

Jen Rubin

Well, thank you, you’ve done. Congratulations again, and folks. when elections come around, you may not know what the Attorney General does. This is what the Attorney General does, so it’s very important in your states, make sure you choose wisely. Thank you, Attorney General Bonta, and, good luck as you, file your other suits and investigations as well. It’s a pleasure.

Attorney General Rob Bonta

Thank you, Jen. Pleasure’s mine.

Jen Rubin

Take care.

Democracy is not a spectator sport. Whether you want to exercise your right to vote, join a protest, call your elected officials, run for office, or keep tabs on the week’s hottest issues and protests, The Contrarian has you covered.

Here are our top suggestions for getting involved in the days ahead. These are heated times; we encourage non-violent and lawful activism.

Mobilize for May Day

May Day is shaping up to be a major happening for the pro-democracy movement, flexing its economic muscle in the face of authoritarian overreach and billionaire power. Organizers — including Indivisible, labor, and clergy groups — are calling for a nationwide general strike: “No work. No school. No shopping.” As Indivisible puts it: “May Day offers us an opportunity to test our movement’s ability to do nonviolent, economic disruption.” The day will be filled with working-class solidarity — including rallies, demonstrations, and community events. Check out this toolkit for organizing an event locally, or plan to join one of more than 1,000 already on tap nationwide. You can also sign a pledge to participate, print out a poster, or find a script to encourage businesses to shut down for the day. Find out more at MayDayStrong.

Embrace Earth Day

Earth Day is Wednesday, April 22. Whether you want to help clean up plastic trash, plant a tree, or organize your community, you can find an event near you at Earthday.org.

Stand Up for the Forest Service

The Trump administration has announced it is gutting the Forest Service, closing regional offices, shuttering research stations, and relocating its headquarters to Utah, a state pursuing mineral extraction on public lands. Call your members of Congress to support the Save Our Forests Act of 2025. Pressure companies that built their businesses on the promise of wild and open public lands (think: Nalgene and L.L. Bean) to stand up to the administration at SaveUSFS.org.

Demand Accountability for Trump’s Genocidal Threats

It cannot be acceptable for a U.S. president to threaten to annihilate an entire civilization. Donald Trump’s genocidal Truth Social post of April 7 was so extreme as to possibly constitute a war crime in itself. Dozens of members of Congress have called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked to remove a reckless commander in chief who can’t distinguish between tough negotiation tactics and terrorism — and now seems to have a God complex, feuding with the pope and posting a meme of himself as Jesus. (More on the 25th Amendment option here and here.) Call your members of Congress to insist that Trump’s grave breach of moral leadership not be swept under the rug.

Help Impeach Pete Hegseth

Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) has filed articles of impeachment for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, seeking his removal for having waged an unauthorized war, for violating “the law of armed conflict and targeting civilians,” and for reckless endangerment of U.S. service members. If you’d prefer to oust the modern-day crusader from Trump’s Cabinet, ask your representative to cosponsor Ansari’s efforts.

No Blank Check for War

Lawmakers have the power to block funding for Trump’s illegal war in Iran. You can also let your lawmakers know how you feel about Trump’s budget that calls for a 40 percent increase in Pentagon spending. Indivisible has a form to send messages to your members of Congress demanding congressional oversight and a vote on a war powers resolution. Join or organize a peaceful anti-war protest. Find resources here.

Check Your Voter Registration

May and June will be busy primary months. Check your voter registration status and deadline here.

Click here to find The Contrarian’s standing resources for empowering yourself in American civic life — from contacting your elected officials, to ensuring your right to vote, to supporting public-interest journalism.

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The technologists touted that their robot umpires would overcome human limitations in calling balls and strikes.

That’s the goal of the automated ball-strike (ABS) system that Major League Baseball adopted this season. But it’s been something that inventors have been promising since the Great Depression.

“BALL GAME ROBOT A PERFECT UMPIRE,” blared the headline on a 1938 New York Times story, about a patent granted to Dallas inventor John Oram for an automated system made up of two lights, two photo-electric cells, reflecting mirrors, and an “ingenious” electrical circuit.

“The ‘umpire’ is electrically operated, is provided with sharp ‘eyes’ and shows none of the weaknesses to which human umpires are heir,” the Times reported in the story, published on its Education page.

It didn’t catch on, of course, but the era of “robot umps” finally arrived last month when MLB adopted the ABS system after several years of experimenting with it in the minor leagues. The sport decided not to go full-on automation, where technology would be used for every ball and strike call. Instead, the system allows each team two unsuccessful challenges per game, which incentivizes players to be selective in using them. The player registers his challenge by tapping his helmet or cap.

Through the first couple of weeks, the new system has resulted in a host of interesting outcomes, including the first-ever game that ended on an ABS challenge. On April 1, Baltimore Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo challenged a ball call with his team up 8-3 over the Texas Rangers and two outs in the ninth inning. The call was reversed, leading to a strikeout of Texas batter Evan Carter and the final out of the game.

A few days before, the Orioles had been involved in another dramatic late-inning ABS situation, when their closer, Ryan Helsley, challenged a ball call in the ninth inning. Had the call stood, the Minnesota Twins would have put the tying run on base. Instead, hitter Josh Bell, who began jogging down to first with an apparent walk, went to the dugout with a strikeout. The challenge was unusual — most are requested by catchers or batters — and it led to the ejection of Twins manager Derek Shelton, who argued with the umps that Helsley hadn’t challenged it in time.

In a game between the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox, home plate umpire CB Bucknor had two consecutive balls overturned after challenges by Reds hitter Eugenio Suárez, leading to a raucous cheer from the hometown crowd in Cincinnati. Overall, Buckner had six calls overturned in the game out of eight challenges.

Strike zones have always been subjective and varied depending on who was calling the game. But under the new system, MLB takes the measurement of every player and calculates his specific strike zone, using 27 percent of the player’s height as the bottom and 53.5 percent of his height as the top. That has led to a spate of shrinking baseball players, whose baseball card heights have often been exaggerated by an inch or two — or even three. According to the Wall Street Journal, 68 players have gone from six feet or taller to below six feet.

Seeking perfection

Had 20^th-century inventors gotten their way, robots would have been calling balls and strikes for nearly a century, before the designated hitter, artificial turf or even teams west of St. Louis. Fifteen years after Oram’s robot ump patent, some other inventors gave it a try.

“Robot Umpire Can’t Call Wrong, Heralds End of ‘We Wuz Robbed,’” blared the Times headline on the top of the Business page on August 1, 1953.

The story explained how Wyoming inventors Lloyd M. Holiday and Nellie M. Holiday got a patent for a robot ump, using one lens below home plate and another one between the pitcher and home plate.

“When both agree that it’s a strike, a light shows on the bulletin board,” the Times explained. “Strikes are also recorded on a paper tape. If no strike is shown, it’s a ball.”

In 1970, MLB experimented with a robot ump during spring training, as colorful umpire Ron Luciano recalled in his memoir, The Umpire Strikes Back.

“It was a short, stubby thing that made strange sounds. Kind of reminded me of Earl Weaver,” Luciano wrote, referring to the Orioles manager, who was Luciano’s famous sparring partner. “Two laser beams created a screen over home plate and could be adjusted to the strike zone of each batter. If a pitched ball went through the beam, a red light flashed on.”

But it had a tough debut, calling every pitch a strike. Yankees catcher Thurman Munson, whose normal disposition was something resembling a permanent scowl, couldn’t stop laughing.

“Jeez, Luciano, this machine is even blinder than you,” Munson yelled.

Luciano wrote that the inventors said the problem could be easily corrected. The next day, they came back and declared, “It’s fine now.”

“The first hitter stepped into the box and, without thinking, tapped his bat on home plate. The machine called that a strike. The red light started flashing urgently,” Luciano wrote.

Again, the inventors said they’d fix it, but two days later, the machine went off when the batter took a half-swing. The batter looked back at Luciano and said, “Hey, that thing’s crazy.”

“I shook my head sympathetically,” Luciano wrote. “‘Don’t tell me about it,’ I said. ‘I’m just the umpire. Tell the machine.’” (This is probably a sentiment umps are already expressing today.)

Finally, after a couple of other problems surfaced, the experiment was scrapped.

“I wasn’t surprised, but I was disappointed,” Luciano wrote. “I was looking forward to seeing Earl Weaver trying to blow the machine’s tubes.”

Frederic J. Frommer, a sports and politics historian who has written for the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Atlantic and other national publications, is working on a book on ‘70s baseball.