
A totally genius analysis of the week’s political news from two certified brains. Ready to resist, progressive AF. Podcast posted weekly since 2012.
A totally genius analysis of the week’s political news from two certified brains. Ready to resist, progressive AF. Podcast posted weekly since 2012.
Episodes

Sunday Apr 03, 2022
4/4/22 - GOP Obsessions
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
Sunday Apr 03, 2022
In Which We Discuss:
1. New York is the only place on earth insane enough to continually come for Amazon…and win.
2. Trump’s phone logs - or lack thereof - are the latest in his ongoing quest to one-up Richard Nixon.
3. The White House is very concerned about the effect of inflation on the defense budget, not as concerned about it impacting your ability to eat.
4. Known liar Madison Cawthorn finally gets in trouble for telling an absolutely unbelievable story that’s…probably his first true one.
5. The KBJ SCOTUS hearings prove once again that the GOP cannot think of anything other than child pornography.
6. America’s least-favorite slam poet is ready to bring crazy sentence syntax back to Washington.
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!
And, as always, you can buy and review Lila's book here: Some Kids Left Behind
![3/14/22 - ”Yes We Can!”...Still Get COVID [w/ Kristin Urquiza of Marked By COVID]](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog456765/IMG_0920_300x300.jpg)
Sunday Mar 13, 2022
Sunday Mar 13, 2022
In Which We Discuss:
1. Kristin Urquiza from Marked by COVID joins us to talk about advocacy, public health policy, and the pandemic.
2. Florida is very committed to its brand
3. Obama shows us that, “Yes We Can!”...still get COVID
4. We joked about it before, but we might actually have attended the nation’s last caucus
5. If Chuck Grassley hates Eric Garcetti so much he should understand why Angelenos are trying to get him to India so fast
6. Mar-a-lago is the hottest gay club in Florida
Find the Kristin Urquiza and Marked by COVID Online:
Twitter: @kdurquiza / @MarkedByCovid
Instagram: @markedbycovid
Facebook: @markedbycovid
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!
And, as always, you can buy and review Lila's book here: Some Kids Left Behind

Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
1/19/22 - Veep is Supposed to Be a Parody
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
In Which We Discuss:
1. Extremism, according to Joe Manchin, is you voting.
2. As you bemoan Biden’s bad week last week, the one thing that should give you solace is that this is the 52nd bad week of his term.
3. Note to Kamala Harris and all future Vice Presidents: Veep is a parody.
4. 2024 is shaping up to have…the same primary as 2020?
5. Eric Adams is not even good at nepotism.
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!
![1/10/22 - Thanks, Teachers! [w/ guest Carissa Byrne Hessick]](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog456765/IMG_0920_300x300.jpg)
Sunday Jan 09, 2022
1/10/22 - Thanks, Teachers! [w/ guest Carissa Byrne Hessick]
Sunday Jan 09, 2022
Sunday Jan 09, 2022
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!

Sunday Nov 28, 2021
11/29/21 - The Thanksgiving Conspiracy Spectacular!
Sunday Nov 28, 2021
Sunday Nov 28, 2021
It’s a Thanksgiving conspiracy spectacular!! (Aaaaaaand…we were too lazy to write the rest of the rundown.) So buckle up, because we’ll have that and so much more!
Get a booster 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!
![10/25/21 - Zebras on the Loose [w/ guest Tatenda Musapatike]](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog456765/IMG_0920_300x300.jpg)
Sunday Oct 24, 2021
10/25/21 - Zebras on the Loose [w/ guest Tatenda Musapatike]
Sunday Oct 24, 2021
Sunday Oct 24, 2021
In Which We Discuss:
1. Tatenda Musapatike talks voting, Real Housewives, and Dem strategy
2. Infrastructure Update: Just…what?
3. Voting rights is filibuster reform. Everything is filibuster reform.
4. Joe Biden wants you to want to pay your student loans
5. A sentence we never thought would be necessary to say: India Walton is not David Duke
6. Apparently the solution to zebras on the loose is…more zebras on the loose
Follow Tatenda on Twitter and Instagram: @TatendaCheryl
Follow Voter Formation Project: @VoterFormation
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!

Sunday Oct 10, 2021
10/11/21 - Invented Problems
Sunday Oct 10, 2021
Sunday Oct 10, 2021
In Which We Discuss:
1. Having COVID has given Allen West too much free time. Let’s get that man out of the hospital ASAP.
2. The Debt Ceiling: A problem we invented just so we could solve it.
3. Infrastructure: It never ends. It also never starts.
4. It’s fake panic time for the fake jobs numbers!
5. With schools finally open, it’s time to get back to the business of studying duck and cover techniques, the only true way to prepare kids for the American workplace.
6. It’s the return of Sinkhole Radio!
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!
![6/22/21 - The Dem Consensus on Consensus [w/ guest Kat Calvin (@KatCalvinLA)]](https://pbcdn1.podbean.com/imglogo/ep-logo/pbblog456765/IMG_0920_300x300.jpg)
Monday Jun 21, 2021
Monday Jun 21, 2021
In Which We Discuss:
1. Kat Calvin (@KatCalvinLA) is in the studio to tell you why we can’t have a Dem consensus on Voter ID that involves...having Voter ID. [Go share her twitter thread about it!]
2. Democrats are bad at power: an exposé
3. The latest on infrastructure season is that it is now infrastructure year. We will never have an infrastructure deal. Get a new hobby.
4. The NYC Mayor’s race is ending in the same chaotic fashion it started: with headlines about Andrew Yang
5. Rhode Island: A non-surprising place to find an all-white country club
6. Happy Father’s day to all, including the sad men crashing weddings and funerals just for the attention while they work as unpaid hotel concierges at tacky resorts in Florida!
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!

Monday May 31, 2021
6/1/21 - The News From A Single Room
Monday May 31, 2021
Monday May 31, 2021
In Which We Discuss:
1. Biden administration hellbent on up to one year of big structural change, which is actually the opposite of structural change
2. Biden debuts infrastructure month, which is exactly like infrastructure week in that nothing gets accomplished, it’s just longer.
3. Someone is about to have to take four months off work to to decide a question with a simple answer: Is Donald Trump a criminal? Yes.
4. The battle of the working class origin stories is coming to a Florida Senate primary near you.
5. There’s no one who wants Donald Trump to die more than Matt Gaetz. Pass it on.
6. Tom Perez is joining Jay Carney in union-busting hell.
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!

Sunday May 16, 2021
5/17/21 - Embrace the Chaos
Sunday May 16, 2021
Sunday May 16, 2021
In Which We Discuss:
1. CDC’s new mask guidance is to just embrace the chaos. We all have to die sometime.
2. It’s finally okay to work in DC and not want to kill Palestinians! Baby steps.
3. NYC Mayoral Debate season is upon us! Lots of 2020 vibes.
4. Let the one lesson we learn from the pandemic be that you can extract more from your governors if you threaten to fire them.
5. Message to Joe Biden: Success isn’t measured by how many meetings you take with asshat Kevin McCarthy. It’s measured by whether you actually pass a bill.
6. Horse junkies are sweeping the horse races!
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!
