In Which We Discuss:

1. Carissa Byrne Hessick joins us to talk about her book Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining is a Bad Deal.

2. COVID is everywhere thanks to…teachers?

3. Jobs: You can now even do them with COVID!

4. Voting: What if we could protect your ability to do it

5. Chris Matthews and Hillary Clinton chime in with a message from the bunker.

6. Madison Cawthorn ends his marriage to a Crossfit Influencer who may or may not be a Russian spy.

* Follow Carissa on Twitter: @CBHessick

* Buy Carissa's Book: Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining is a Bad Deal

* Buy Lila's Book: Some Kids Left Behind

Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of quarantiners, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL!  Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!

In Which We Discuss:

1. For the first time in 5 years we almost had a real infrastructure week.  Almost.

2. A review of all the dumb ways moderates waste money.

3. Are we talking about the fucking debt ceiling??? Again???

4. I do not have enough closet space for a repeat of the toilet paper shortages.

5. Who fixes an oil pipeline when nobody knows who owns it? 

6. We freed Britney! But who’s in charge of worrying about her now?

Get a vaccine so you too can record a podcast in the same room as your co-host!

Brain Trust Live is (still) Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of quarantiners, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL!  Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!

In Which We Discuss:

1. We’re starting with Britney. For the clicks.

2. The votes are in in the New York City mayor’s race. So we’ll tell you who won in one to two months!

3. Infrastructure. We’ve got nothing left on this one.

4. SCOTUS went so far to the dark side that Clarence Thomas had to speak up.

5. Don’t worry, you can still go to prison for longer than Derek Chauvin if you put your mind to it. Or if you just happen to be Black.

6. Apparently the funeral crashing circuit got boring.

Get a vaccine so you too can record a podcast in the same room as your co-host!

Brain Trust Live is (still) Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of quarantiners, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL!  Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!

In Which We Discuss:

1. Thankfully Tiktok will live on under the Biden administration because there are emus committing crimes out there.

2. Terry McAuliffe is still here. Why?

3. World leaders donated money to telling developing nations about technology they can’t afford.

4. Kamala Harris is a woman, so yes, she will only be given tasks she can fail at

5. Infrastructure month has officially turned into infrastructure season

6. Israel elected new impossible person to lead their impossible government

Also:

CALL YOUR REPS. ABOUT EVERYTHING. Make this number your profile picture. Tweet it every day. Add it to your phonebook:

Capitol Hill Main Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

Brain Trust Live is (still) Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of quarantiners, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL!  Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!

In Which We Discuss:

1. Joe Manchin’s brain is being held hostage by the ghost of Robert Byrd

2. Giving people money stops them from starving: an expose

3. Dem soul searching leads to exact answers we gave them before they started soul searching

4. Surprising that Andrew Yang, after participating in the democratic presidential primary, admitted publicly to wanting to be more like Michael Bloomberg.

5. In effort to undermine the meat industry, vegans find natural ally in Vladimir Putin

6. Donald Trump will be back in August according to the pillow industry

Also:

Get a vaccine so you too can record a podcast in the same room as your co-host!

Brain Trust Live is (still) Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of quarantiners, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL!  Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!

In Which We Discuss:

1. Less than $2000 could be coming to a checking account near you very soon!

2. Joe Manchin formed the problem causers caucus, whose political ideology seems vaguely similar to the problem solvers caucus.

3. Marie Antoinette voted no on increasing the minimum wage

4. Neera Tandan. Goodbye forever. We wish you nothing but the worst.

5. For second week in a row: Do not run for a third term in NY state.

6. March 4th has come and gone and Donald Trump has no risen from the swamp.

Also:

CALL YOUR REPS. ABOUT EVERYTHING. Make this number your profile picture. Tweet it every day. Add it to your phonebook:

Capitol Hill Main Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

Brain Trust Live is (still) Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of quarantiners, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL!  Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!

Our first, and hopefully last, Special Mid-Week Coup-Cast! Come for the boring grandstanding, stay for the insurrection,

Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of quarantiners, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL!  Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!

In Which We Discuss:

1. Carla Nordstrom returns to tell you everything you need to know about the state of the Senate races!

2. Is Ranked Choice Voting coming for you?

3. The VP Debate was won by fracking and flies

4. Trump is feeling healthy and ready to get out there and start superspreading COVID again

5. Lindsey Graham insists black people are safe in SC as long as they’re conservative, but offers no further comments on how to project conservatism for your safety.

And hello to our friends at Trillbilly Worker's Party, a fellow progressive podcast that got a couple of shout-outs this week!

Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of quarantiners, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL!  Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!

In Which We Discuss [w/ special guest Grant Sloss]:

1. White House host nation’s first VIP-only, black-tie superspreader event. 

2. Trump now attempting to die of COVID in a last-ditch attempt to get out of a massive IRS bill and crushing debt.

3. The first presidential debate (and likely the last) was, in the words of Jake Tapper, “a hot mess inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck.”

4. Cal Cunningham is part of the exact kind of lame sexting scandal you’d expect from a DNC-backed moderate. But don’t worry, Thom Tillis has COVID.

5. Another year, another set of Prop 13 battles hit the California ballot.

Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of quarantiners, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL!  Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!

In Which We Discuss:

1. RBG is the first woman to lie in state. Ever. 

2. Trump makes his SCOTUS selection. Dems already prepared with excuses for why they can’t do anything about it.

3. Goodbye healthcare, it was nice not ever really knowing you.

4. It turns out #justiceforBreonnaTaylor will remain a hashtag and not a reality.

5. In another failure to read the room, Nancy Pelosi is now offering even less COVID relief.

6. The beginning of Joe Biden’s campaign day is usually a statement telling us it’s over.

In Which we Don't Discuss:

Trump's taxes. The news didn't break in time to make it into this week's episode. We'll cover it next week!

Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of quarantiners, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL!  Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!