Podcasts about Bright spot

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 29, 2026. We open with the Supreme Court's ruling that lets the administration keep deporting illegal immigrants to third countries while the case works its way through the courts. We ask who holds the constitutional authority to decide whether a foreign national can stay in the United States, and we also dig into the inspector general's finding that roughly 40 percent of sampled Afghan asylum files had vetting and documentation errors under the Biden administration. In our Top 3 You Need to Know, former special counsel Jack Smith testifies before a Senate committee, and Senator Chuck Grassley calls his operation a partisan weapon. An illegal immigrant from Venezuela who was shot by ICE agents in Austin is now charged with assaulting an officer. President Trump announces America.gov, a free chatbot that searches 29,000 government websites. Then we turn to Governor Gavin Newsom and the No Kings Act, and to why we think the law won't survive a federal supremacy challenge. On American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson answer the question: how would you feel if your church publicized what you tithed each week? They talk about Matthew 6, the widow's penny, and why the heart of the giver matters more than the dollar amount. In Digging Deep, we look at the CDC's latest high school survey. It shows a drop in LGBT identification among younger teens, along with improvements in reported sadness, poor mental health, and suicidal thoughts. We ask whether the two trends are connected and what might have changed. We also cover a Capitol Hill hearing on the government's COVID response, where attorney Ralph Lorigio testifies about his court fights to get ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to hospitalized patients. We discuss why doctors and medical institutions followed CDC guidance. For our Bright Spot, we start with Speaker Mike Johnson and Governor Jeff Landry pushing back on fears about data centers. They compare the water use to golf courses and argue that the United States can't afford to let China win the AI infrastructure race. Then we get to the Protect College Sport Act, which passed the Senate 77 to 22 with sponsors from both parties. It would limit transfers, set rules for conference changes, and stop coaches from leaving mid-season, and we debate whether it's a job for the federal government. We close with a Moment of Whoa. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's plan would let first-time passport applicants do everything online by the end of 2027. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 28, 2026. We open by taking on a Kansas Senate candidate and former United Methodist pastor, Adam Hamilton, who preached a sermon calling for repentance over beef and cattle. We ask where that's found in Scripture, what happens when climate becomes the highest moral authority, and why the third-largest cattle state in America isn't likely to send him to Washington. In the Top 3 Things You Need to Know, we cover an alleged Iranian-backed terror plot to blow up a U.S. air base in England, and why the suspects are already out on bail. We also look at the announcement of the largest steel mill in American history, a $15 billion project in Iowa, and at the Department of Transportation rolling back Biden-era fuel economy standards, which the administration says will lower new car prices by an average of $1,300. Next, we break down Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's plan to rein in private college costs by making public college tuition-free. We explain why "free" really means paid for by taxpayers, including those who never went to college, and how government involvement helped create runaway tuition in the first place. On American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson join us to talk about the disturbing trend of "abortion announcements" that mimic pregnancy announcements, and what the language of "baby canceled" admits about the argument behind them. Then we look at the "clock" Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has put on Iran, with roughly two weeks before its oil revenue runs dry and the week of October 12th flagged as the one to watch, all part of Operation Economic Outcast. In Digging Deep, we test the logic of Steny Hoyer's op-ed urging Americans to vote Democrat. We check his claims on gas prices, housing costs, and inflation against the data, and we ask what the Democratic agenda actually is. We also share a Substack piece by an author writing as Abstract Truth, a defense of men and masculinity that asks why so many women who value the good men in their lives stay quiet about it. In our Bright Spot, we cover Pope Leo's message in France rejecting euthanasia and "false compassion," and the reminder that what is legal is not necessarily moral. We close with a Moment of Whoa, marking the 245th anniversary of George Washington's arrival at Yorktown, and a look at what America can do when it believes in itself. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Studs and duds from the Miami Dolphins third consecutive loss to start the season.

We begin today with a deep dive:A Franklin and Marshall poll shows voters in the 10th Congressional District say the economy is their most important issue.Pennsylvania's Auditor General released a performance audit of the state's Department of Aging this week. Department of Aging officials are disputing the findings.State lawmakers traveled to the Lehigh Valley this week to hear testimony on the challenges and opportunities facing Pennsylvania's Latino population.And now an update to a story we first reported earlier this week:Democratic congressional representatives are pressing for information regarding the contract and operations of Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County, the largest immigrant detention center in the northeast.And it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot. Every Friday, I share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.  Today's bright spot is this:Congratulations to our friends at WVIA who were recently recognized with one of Little League International's highest honors.WVIA received the 2026 W. Howard Hartman Little League Friendship Award.It recognizes WVIA's longstanding commitment to the Little League community and its dedication to sharing stories of Challenger Division athletes.It's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you. 

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 24, 2026. We open by tackling the socialism debate head-on, breaking it down with a fifth-grade-simple question about neighbors and fairness before diving into a new Gallup poll showing 43% of Americans now hold a positive view of socialism — the highest number recorded since 2010. We explore the contradiction of Americans loving free enterprise and small business while flirting with socialist ideas they don't fully understand, and we draw the line between legitimate public services like roads and schools versus actual government ownership of production. From there we hit our Top 3 Things You Need to Know: a federal judge's temporary injunction forcing the White House to reinstate press credentials for CNN, MSNBC, and Politico. Twenty people charged with illegal voting in Florida's 2024 election, including sixteen alleged illegal aliens. And the messy vandalism scandal involving former Senator Kyrsten Sinema's ex-boyfriend and bodyguard. We then discuss President Trump's high-profile hosting of China's Xi Jinping at the White House, weighing the optics of diplomacy against real disagreements over trade, Taiwan, and human rights, and comparing the tone of that visit to the infamous Zelensky Oval Office meeting. Our American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson, join us to answer the question: what's a sign your church is thriving? They share how youth engagement — or the lack of it — can make or break a congregation, and why getting kids excited about church is the real key to growth. We dig deep into the fascinating claims out of Turkey, where researchers investigating the Durupinar Formation on Mount Ararat say they've found signs of a man-made structure that could be Noah's Ark — though we remain skeptical of the "100% confirmed" headlines. We also talk about the very different ways men and women read a story about Melania Trump's outfit at the Xi Jinping state visit, before landing on a Bright Spot: the Department of Justice reaching settlements with six major hospitals to end transgender procedures on minors. We close with the heartwarming story of 12-year-old Sadie Hudson, who repaired and donated 114 stuffed animals to the Red Cross for children who've lost everything in house fires. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 23, 2026. We open with a troubling new survey from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which asked nearly 70,000 undergraduates at 257 schools about silencing speakers. More than a third said violence to stop a campus speech is acceptable to some degree. We ask what happened to real debate, why so many parents are going into debt for this kind of education, and share our own experience of a Hofstra University panel that was called off over safety concerns. In the Top 3 Things You Need to Know, a federal judge lets President Trump's ban of CNN, MSNOW, and Politico from the White House briefing room stand while he weighs the case. The federal government also purges 760,000 fraudulent Obamacare enrollments, a move expected to save taxpayers $2.2 billion. And a Utah postal worker is indicted for allegedly dumping about 300 mail-in ballots in a church parking lot dumpster, which is one more reason we make the case for showing up in person on Election Day. We then question a Texas Senate candidate's church after its pastor's Easter sermon claimed Jesus never rose from the dead. In American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson help us tackle why marriage rates are falling, from wedding-industry pressure to dating apps, politics, and fatherlessness. Next, we look at Christopher Rufo's reporting on the $11 billion California has spent on benefits for illegal immigrants. In Digging Deep, we go to the text of the Second Amendment and a New Jersey lawsuit over the state's ban on carrying everyday objects like bats, knives, and batons for self-defense. In our Bright Spot, a Biden-appointed judge tosses Michigan's antitrust lawsuit against big oil. A Greenfield, Massachusetts lesbian bar takes heat over its mask rules, and in the Moment of Whoa, Rep. Pramila Jayapal claims women make better negotiators than men. We close with a 47-year-old pastor who walked onto a junior college football team and finally got in the game. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brightly returns for a special Bright Spot. Tracy talks with Amy about the release of her young adult novel, 'Once Upon a Curse', the growth behind bringing it into the world, and the next chapter she's beginning to write for herself.

A 157-acre property in Swatara Township, Dauphin County, located behind the WITF public media center... might soon be the home of a $10.5 billion data center campus.Now an update on a story we first reported earlier this week. Advocates and allies of a York pastor and Haitian immigrant are trying last-minute legal and political strategies to keep him in the country.State officials say the number of measles cases in Pennsylvania continues to rise, reaching 731 confirmed cases. That's according to new figures released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on Wednesday.The Trump administration is claiming that thousands of potential non-citizens are registered to vote in Pennsylvania. There are new revelations about how federal officials came up with that number.A new study warns electric shortages are ahead, unless the supply keeps pace with data center growth.The Shapiro administration is celebrating its Office of Outdoor Recreation's third year of existence with positive economic news.This is the last weekend of summer, before fall arrives on Tuesday, September 22nd – and there are plenty of festivals happening across Central PA.And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot. Every Friday, I'll share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.  Today's bright spot is this:If you've ever wanted to create a podcast of your own – and if you or someone you know is age 65 and older – now might be your chance. NPR is inviting persons age 65 and older to take part in the Senior Podcast Challenge. Learn more about NPR's Senior Podcast Challenge here. And listen to the full conversation on WITF's The Spark.NPR Senior Podcast Challenge invites Pennsylvania seniors to share their stories | WITFIt's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you.

Spadoni and Shasky talk with Dave Flemming, voice of the Giants, as he praises Eldridge following his massive bomb in St. Louis.

Description - Joel Peterson, Kaitlyn Ferber, and Gemma Bastiani look back at round five of the 2026 NAB AFLW season, naming the in-form team of the competition, a bright spot in a tough year for the Saints, and a young Crow putting her name in lights. Timecodes:0:22 - Best things from the weekend3:16 - Blues challenge the Roos5:45 - Are the Demons the most in form team?10:35 - Bright spot for the Saints12:31 - How the Eagles got off the mark15:58 - The Cats finally best the Crows17:41 - The young Crow stepping up19:06 - Injury watchSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we begin by expanding on a story we first brought you yesterday. The Pennsylvania State Archives has an exhibit exploring Pennsylvania's experience of the 9/11 terrorist attack, marking its 25th anniversary today. It mainly revolves around Flight 93 which went down in western PA.Observances across Central PA and the nation today (Friday) commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Those attacks focused on three sites: the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D-C, and a thwarted attack that ended with the crash of Flight 93 in Shanksville.Pennsylvania's top election official says the federal government is trying to illegally change election rules. What voters need to know in the run-up to the midterms.The Federal Communications Commission has approved the transfer of Penn State's WPSU to Philadelphia-based WHYY.Democratic Senator John Fetterman addressed the Republican midterm convention Wednesday, escalating tensions with his party.ICE is ramping up its use of Penn State's airport to move detainees between immigration facilities And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot. Every Friday, I'll share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.  Today's bright spot is this: The third annual "Recovery in Nature" initiative is underway in State Parks across the Commonwealth in an effort to support Pennsylvanians in recovery.  It's part of National Recovery Month.It's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you.

Take a listen as Mrs. Amanda and Ms. Abby talk about all the wonderful things taking place at the Allen County Public Library.  Children's Programs are back!  We also have SO much planned for all ages, especially TEENS in October.  We can't wait to see you!Books Mentioned:Dungeon Crawler Carl by Mat DinnimanWolf's Belly by John August and Simon Estrada

P.M. Edition for Sept. 4. The U.S. added a whopping 162,000 jobs last month, far better than economists expected. We hear from Journal markets reporter Jack Pitcher about what investors are betting that means for the Fed. Plus, we talk to Siobhan Hughes, who covers Congress, about the reaction to her reporting on how John Fetterman has shown little interest in the duties of a U.S. senator. And federal regulators say they have opened a probe into Tesla's Cybercab, a day after it hit the streets of Austin. Reporters Ryan Felton and Becky Peterson weigh in on what the probe means for Elon Musk's company. Alex Ossola hosts. Behind Closed Doors, John Fetterman Shows Little Interest in the Work of a Senator Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This Labor Day weekend, Harrisburg's annual multicultural celebration along the Susquehanna River begins Saturday.Gravel cyclists seeking trails now have over 30 routes and 2,000 miles to ride in the Endless Mountains.Cooking up the best, big bowl of chili is a tradition that's now 30 years strong, in one York County town. The 30th annual Hanover Chili Cook Off is set for this Sunday, September 6th.A new hiking trail is now open in Lancaster County's Safe Harbor Nature Preserve.The Pennsylvania Capitol is one of buildings participating in Lights Out Harrisburg. It's a voluntary initiative to minimize lights inside and outside building at night during spring and fall bird migration seasons.The Schuylkill Conservancy is receiving a $4,500 grant from the Pennsylvania Ornithology Society. Now that it's September, Goose Day is around the corner. Celebrated on September 29th mainly in Mifflin and Juniata counties, visitors can check out a festival, costume contest, and drone light show leading up to Goose Day.And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot.  Honestly, many of the stories in today's podcast could be considered bright spots. But today's official bright spot is this: An artist in Virginia is using her paintings to raise awareness and money to benefit the Red Moshannon Creek in Clearfield and Centre counties.  Her choice of paint itself is raising awareness.It's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 3, 2026. We open by digging into Enos Cantor Freedom's federal lawsuit against the Chicago Sky, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, and the city of Chicago after he was escorted out of a WNBA game and banned from Wintrust Arena for wearing a shirt defining womanhood and cheering for the Indiana Fever. We walk through the video of his confrontation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud and debate whether he was singled out for his viewpoint rather than any actual rule violation, and what that means for his First Amendment claim. From there we hit our Top 3 things you need to know: the Ninth Circuit allowing Idaho's abortion ban to take effect for now, ICE setting a new record with 51,000 detentions in August as three million illegal immigrants have left or been removed since President Trump returned to office, and a federal judge tossing the DOJ's lawsuit against California's law letting biological males compete in girls' sports. Our American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson, join us to answer why 85-year-old actress Donna Mills has launched an OnlyFans page, which spins into a broader conversation about the platform, a politically outspoken creator monetizing her looks alongside her commentary, and the personal costs that can come with that kind of income. We Dig Deep on two fronts: a Maine Supreme Court ruling that a mother cannot take her 12-year-old daughter to church without the father's consent amid the parents' custody dispute over religion, and a Columbia Journalism Review report on New York City Mayor Mamdani's office paying influencers with taxpayer money to spread city messaging on immigration and tenants' rights, which we argue crosses the line from public information into propaganda. We also talk about North Carolina's Roy Cooper calling for healthcare over handcuffs for jailed offenders, and why we think that overlooks crime victims, before landing on a Bright Spot out of Pittsburgh, where a church is reporting a wave of young people, including hundreds of University of Pittsburgh students, coming forward for baptism. We close out with George Clooney warning about the rich and powerful while accepting a lifetime achievement award, and a father-son team in Michigan fixing cars for neighbors who can't afford repairs. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 2, 2026. We open by taking on House Minority Whip Katherine Clark's claim that Americans don't care about the "socialism" label, and we push back hard, arguing that if the word were meaningless, Democrats wouldn't work so hard to distance themselves from it. We trace the line from Marx's Communist Manifesto to the Soviet Union's own self-description to Zohran Mamdani's push for government-run grocery stores in New York City, making the case that socialism and communism are one and the same, and that Americans' everyday worries about groceries, housing, and gas prices are really debates about capitalism versus government control. In our Top 3, we cover the latest round of US strikes on Iran after Iranian forces threatened the Strait of Hormuz, the House passing a short-term spending bill that averts a government shutdown, and 80-year-old Senator Ed Markey's primary win over Congressman Seth Moulton in Massachusetts. We also dig into a fresh YouGov poll finding that a small but growing share of Democrats believe the country focuses too much on 9/11, and we argue that number, however small, still matters because our enemies benefit whenever America grows complacent about that day. American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson join us to talk about how wedding registries have changed, from china and crystal to Christmas trees and rugs, and how weddings themselves have ballooned into full productions driven by social media. From there we look at Elon Musk's prediction of a billion humanoid robots within a decade and debate whether he's forecasting the future or selling it, before Digging Deep into a new Gallup poll showing a record 89% of Americans now believe government corruption is widespread, up ten points from just last year, and we connect that spike to COVID-era spending fraud and the DOGE investigations that followed. We get a laugh out of New York Governor Kathy Hochul quietly dropping the state's requirement that liquor license applicants disclose whether patrons will be dancing, and we hand out a Bright Spot to Speaker Mike Johnson for introducing a constitutional amendment that would lock the Supreme Court at nine justices, which leads us into a wish list of other amendments we'd like to see, from a balanced budget requirement to repealing the 16th and 17th Amendments. We close by expressing our disgust that vandals defaced Dolly Parton's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame barely a week after her death, and we leave you with Words of Wisdom on the Constitution from Calvin Coolidge, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Abraham Lincoln, and John Adams. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for August 31, 2026. We open by digging into the Trump administration's crackdown on fraudulent commercial driving schools, walking through why English proficiency and real CDL training aren't bureaucratic red tape but a matter of public safety, and how the Biden-era rollback of licensing standards left blue states like New York, California, and Illinois with hundreds of noncompliant schools, thousands of unsafe drivers, and a real national security exposure tied to unaccountable 18-wheelers. From there we run through the Top 3 things you need to know: a new U.S.-Venezuela oil deal aimed at cutting China out of the picture, U.S. military strikes on Iranian targets in the Persian Gulf tied to sea-mine activity, and the federal shutdown of over a hundred more commercial trucking schools tied to unlicensed, non-English-speaking drivers. We touch on sports activism, from NFL end-zone messaging to Tennessee honoring Dolly Parton with a helmet sticker, before turning it over to our American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson, who take on a listener question about whether they'd write a child out of the will over socialism, plus a detour into trade schools, Mike Rowe, and the value of a good vocation. Digging Deep, we cover a New York assistant attorney general's viral internal email accusing AG Letitia James's office of manufacturing a case against Trump, and what happened to him within an hour of hitting send. We also look at President Trump's push to lure Canadian businesses south of the border, the "Best and Brightest" push to recruit sharp, fast-processing minds — including gamers — into air traffic control now that DEI mandates are gone, and a Texas Senate candidate's blunt new campaign pitch: vote for me, I'll raise your taxes. For our Bright Spot, we look at a year of data out of Texas A&M on school cell phone bans, and the real gains in grades, anxiety, and old-fashioned face-to-face friendship they're producing. And we close on a heartwarming story out of the Bronx, where a pizza shop owner's simple act of kindness for a woman digging through his trash turned into a nationwide movement of paying it forward, one slice at a time. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of On The Bench, Chris Nee, Kolby Crawford, and John Evans break down Florida State's season-opening win over New Mexico State. The Seminoles defeated the Aggies, 34-17, on Saturday night at Doak Campbell Stadium. Some of FSU's strengths were validated, while some question marks became more concerning.Our trio of analysts provide breakdowns of the offense and defense, one big question moving forward, and a recruiting update from week zero.You can subscribe to On The Bench, X's and Noles, and Beyond The Bench on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify. As always, five-star reviews and comments on Apple Podcasts are appreciated!Also, you can watch the show on YouTube now. We'll do live streams as well, and you can get notifications on when we're live by subscribing to our YouTube channel.(0:00) - FSU Beats New Mexico State 34-17(1:10) - Initial Takeaways From Florida State's Win(12:56) - Ashton Daniels & FSU's Offense(20:19) - Running Backs Shine & Duce Robinson's Usage(22:45) - Breaking Down the Tight Ends(31:43) - Florida State's Offensive Line(37:30) - What's the Path Forward for the Offense?(39:38) - FSU's Secondary Struggles(45:38) - Defensive Line & Pass Rush Concerns(52:01) - Linebackers Provide a Bright Spot(56:43) - Special Teams Breakdown(57:52) - Biggest Concerns Moving Forward(59:48) - Football Recruiting Update(1:03:03) - Basketball Recruiting Update

Pennsylvania's top prosecutor is touting Pennsylvania's share of a nationwide legal settlement with the owner of Facebook and Instagram.Central Pennsylvania's food banks are seeing increased demand. Eligibility changes to SNAP are kicking people off the program and causing confusion.Meet WITF reporter and Weekend Edition host Katie Knol, in conversation with the Morning Agenda's Karen Hendricks.The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is recognizing two rangers and a civilian for saving a mountain biker's life at Swatara State Park this spring.And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot. Every Friday, I'll share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.  Today's bright spot is this:A new Hershey area nonprofit is creating opportunities for new mothers to learn a skill, do something for themselves and connect with other moms. The initiative promotes the benefits of dance and removes barriers mothers face.It's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you.

Harrisburg's Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts is facing financial headwinds. Leadership says the science and arts center has 10 years of financial runway left, worst-case scenario.One person is dead and two Pennsylvania State Police officers are injured following a plane crash Wednesday night in Cumberland County. Corporal Bryce Corman and Trooper Jason Mills are in stable condition and expected to be okay. We have an update on this violent crash.Earlier this week, Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order to force data center developers to comply with his standards for the industry. Ahead of the signing, Shapiro mentioned his visit to the borough of Archbald in Lackawanna County, which is facing the most data center proposals of any location in the state. Now, one Archbald advocate says Shapiro's order doesn't go far enough.Schools in southcentral Pennsylvania will receive more than $420,000 in state funding to continue providing free period products to students.The Hershey community is invited to Milton Hershey's 169th birthday party.And we have a deep dive, in our weekly segment called The Bright Spot. Every Friday, we share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle. Today's bright spot is this: Little League World Series play is getting underway in Lycoming County. But the wider community turned out in droves on Tuesday to greet players and families during the annual Grand Slam parade in downtown Williamsport. It's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full episode for August 18, 2026. We open by taking a hard look at the polling industry ahead of the 2026 midterms, breaking down Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini's analysis of 3,000 Senate polls over four election cycles, which found an average Democratic-leaning error of 3.7 points and Democrats overstated in 73% of surveys. We debate whether that means blanket-adjusting every poll number, or whether turnout, candidate quality, and a summer electorate that isn't paying attention yet make historical error rates a poor guide to any single race, using the Texas Senate matchup between Ken Paxton and James Tallarico as our test case. From there we run through our Top 3 stories you need to know: an indictment of 17 Iranian nationals tied to the Mabna Institute for a sweeping hacking campaign against U.S. universities, private companies, and government agencies; an arrest warrant issued for former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein after she skipped a court hearing tied to an alleged assault on a police officer; and a guilty plea from a Massachusetts man who identifies as transgender after bringing Molotov cocktails to the Capitol during Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's confirmation hearing. We also dig into the National Association of Black Journalists giving ESPN's Stephen A. Smith a thumbs-down rating for refusing to stay in his ideological lane, and a former Senator John Cornyn staffer's jump to the Tallarico campaign, which we read as a sign of where the polls and the money are pointing rather than any real change in conviction. In American Mamas, Teri Netterville reflects on the death of actress Hayden Panettiere, tracing her rise as a child star through a mother who treated her as a meal ticket, an abusive relationship, drug struggles, and the broader pattern of young Hollywood stars who are chewed up by the industry around them. We Dig Deep into a resurgence of flea-borne typhus in Los Angeles, connecting record case numbers to the city's homelessness policies and a 2020 California law that restricted the most effective rat poisons to protect wildlife. We also cover a new Census Bureau review comparing 2020 voter rolls to citizenship data, which found more than 24,000 confirmed non-citizen votes out of an initial 128 million reviewed, with 32 million more ballots still to be checked, and what President Trump's reaction to that number could mean going forward. For our Bright Spot, we look at a new report showing New York City's congestion pricing hasn't actually improved air quality, then turn to a Washington, D.C. experiment coating streets in light-reflective paint to cool down urban heat islands. We say, "what" to a Minneapolis public school district reportedly handing out free backpacks and school supplies exclusively to American Indian students. And we close with a Moment of Whoa as Jason Burns secretly trains for two weeks to surprise his girlfriend Emma Kessler at the starting line of her first half marathon, running all 13.1 miles by her side. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Violent crime in the commonwealth has fallen to pre-COVID-19 pandemic rates almost across the board. State Attorney General Dave Sunday says there's some good news in those numbers but warned about upticks in drug trafficking.Dauphin County Commissioners have approved another year of free evening parking in Downtown Harrisburg from 5 to 7 pm. But they say they want feedback and data on whether it's helping businesses. Businesses say it is.Norfolk Southern says federal investigators will look into the cause of Tuesday's train derailment at the Horseshoe Curve in Altoona. A former PennDOT employee is charged with embezzling more than $33,000 by overcharging her department-issued credit card.The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is adding a forest in Schuylkill County to the national Old-Growth Forest Network.Kyle Robinson, a Waterways Conservation Officer covering Mifflin and northern Huntingdon counties, is receiving statewide recognition A memorial service this Sunday will honor the life of Dick Knoebel. The former President of Knoebels Amusement Resort passed away on July 16th at the age of 87.And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot.  Every Friday, I'll share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.   Today's bright spot is this: Mini-THONs from across Pennsylvania and neighboring states raised more than $6.4 million during the 2025-26 school year to support Four Diamonds.It's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for August 13, 2026. We dig into why Democrats are running on impeachment instead of solutions, pointing to Massachusetts Congressman Jake Auchincloss naming impeachment of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth a midterm priority — and we lay out why that signals a party with nothing to offer on cost of living, the border, or public safety, while praising Speaker Mike Johnson's handling of misconduct without resorting to impeachment theater. We also revisit the 2018 "orange man bad" playbook and question whether it still works given Zoran Mamdani's mayoral win. In our Top 3, we cover Flock Safety's new privacy controls on license plate readers, the WNBA's decision not to change its transgender eligibility policy despite controversy from players like Sophie Cunningham, and the indictment of a former Southern Poverty Law Center finance officer accused of funneling money to hate groups. We get fired up over the vandalism at the World War II Memorial, arguing that spray-painted graffiti has no place on sacred ground honoring the 400,000 Americans who died in the war. Our American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson, tackle a listener question about whether on-screen kissing counts as cheating, running through Hollywood stories from Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger to George Strait's famous cowboy-hat kiss dodge in Pure Country. And we call out media outlets for reporting details of the Secret Service's decoy plane maneuver that got President Trump safely out of Turkey, arguing the coverage burns a tactic that could protect his life again. We go Digging Deep on solar power, questioning why the "cheapest energy in human history" still needs government subsidies while data centers building their own power plants are choosing natural gas and nuclear instead. We circle back to the WNBA to argue the transgender eligibility question shouldn't require committees and consultants, then hit a Bright Spot with wildfire acreage at its lowest since the satellite era began, the Great Barrier Reef's rebound, and a quiet Atlantic hurricane season. Border czar Tom Holman gets a shoutout for record ICE arrest numbers in June and July, and we close with a Moment of Whoa: UC Davis water polo player and lifeguard Lily Velling's rescue of three struggling swimmers at Seattle's Seafair, earning her the title of Lady Guardian of Lake Washington. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avalone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for August 12, 2026. We open with a legal argument that's hard to stomach: attorneys for the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk are reportedly arguing that the death penalty shouldn't be on the table because their client hit exactly who he was aiming for. We dig into why that "good marksman" defense doesn't hold up, why Utah's aggravating-factor standard for capital punishment matters here, and why the shooter's own alleged written admissions make the legal argument feel especially hollow. In our Top 3 things you need to know, we cover Karoline Leavitt's announced departure as White House Press Secretary at the end of August so she can focus on her young family, a sprawling marriage fraud case out of New York involving thousands of fake marriages tied to immigration fraud, and the latest CPI numbers showing inflation ticking up just 0.1% in July even as gas prices climb back in August. From there we dig into public assistance fraud enforcement, why the states doing the least to stop it seem to have the most of it, and how fear of being labeled racist keeps some officials from confronting fraud head-on, using Nick Shirley's on-the-ground reporting in Somali immigrant communities as our jumping-off point. Our American Mama, Teri Netterville, tackles cell phone bans for kids beyond the classroom, from little league teams banning phones before games to Louisiana and Florida's in-school bans, and what the research and real-life results are showing about kids reconnecting face-to-face. Our Bright Spot celebrates Karoline Leavitt's tenure as press secretary and the choice she's making to prioritize motherhood, a decision that's anything but a step down. We dig deep into Tuesday's primary results across the country, from the South Carolina Senate runoff to fill Lindsey Graham's seat, to Wisconsin's tight governor's race, to Minnesota's Senate and governor primaries, and what each contest could mean for control of Congress this fall. We also weigh in on an Indiana Fever coach's viral comments about unity and love in the WNBA, and a second Bright Spot on musician Five for Fighting's John Ondrasik publicly defending Boy George after backlash over his song honoring October 7th victims. In our Moment of Whoa, we look at a Massachusetts proposal to create a permanent, taxpayer-funded state commission devoted to one religion, and what that means for equal treatment under the law. And we close with Words of Wisdom on standing up for what's right. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avalone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for August 11, 2026. We open with Chicago's murder rate compared to Florida's major cities, and ask why the same activists offended by National Guard troops in D.C. and Chicago aren't offended by the gang violence claiming lives every day — plus why Chicago's strict gun laws haven't stopped the bloodshed. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, we cover Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signing a law legalizing abortion up to birth, the arrest of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's son on child exploitation charges, and a New York judge halting Mayor Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax after the city doxxed hundreds of thousands of residents by mistake. We also dig into former CIA Director John Brennan's election interference claims and the fight over the SAVE Act. Our American Mama, Teri Netterville, joins us to talk Cam Newton's revelations about NFL players and fake COVID vaccine cards, the human cost of vaccine mandates, and why we're still waiting on apologies from the media figures who vilified people like Aaron Rodgers. We're Digging Deep this week on Massachusetts' new late-term abortion law, then pivot to Seattle, where a mix of socialism and green energy mandates is about to send electric bills up 80% over six years. Plus, Justice Samuel Alito's decision to stay on the Supreme Court, a Bright Spot on Trump savings accounts building wealth for the next generation, a Say What moment courtesy of Hillary Clinton, and a Moment of Whoa from a 13-year-old who spent 300 hours 3D-printing a wheelchair for a little girl he'd never met. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for August 10, 2026. We kick things off with Iran's audacious demand for war reparations from the United States — and President Trump's brilliant response that flips the script and opens up Iran's own record of terror funding, hostage-taking, and brutality against its own people for the world to see. Then we run through the Top 3 things you need to know: President Trump's executive order spacing out childhood vaccines and trimming the recommended schedule, the DOJ's lawsuit against New York, Connecticut, and Vermont over in-state tuition for illegal aliens, and the Pentagon renaming Joint Base Charleston to Joint Base Lindsey Graham in honor of the late senator. We dig into the disturbing pattern of violence in the WNBA, including the flagrant hit on Sophie Cunningham, and ask our American Mamas whether Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White should be allowed to play in the WNBA after applying under the league's gender rules. We break down new numbers showing marijuana use has overtaken both daily cigarette and alcohol use in America — and why that should worry us more than it does. In Digging Deep, we expose how a soft-on-crime plea deal in Maricopa County let a confessed murderer walk free, only for him to allegedly torch 700 homes in Spokane, Washington. We also cover the discovery that British Royal Navy sea drones have been caught communicating with a server in China. There's a Bright Spot in new Gallup polling showing more Americans — especially Republicans — believe parents should be married before having kids. We call out the University of Michigan for hiding freshman grades behind a pass/no-credit system that shields students from the consequences that build real character. And we close by remembering Ben Jones, the actor who played Cooter on The Dukes of Hazzard and went on to serve in Congress, who passed away this weekend at 85. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Measles cases are surging in Pennsylvania, as part of the biggest Measles outbreak in the US in 35 years, with 176 confirmed cases in the state, 35 in the last week alone. Most of those infected are unvaccinated.As unknown hackers target municipal water systems in several states, Pennsylvania officials confirm there have been no cyberattacks here -- at least not so far.The University of Valley Forge in southeastern PA is closing three weeks before the start of its fall semester. Students are now looking to transfer to other schools, including Messiah University in Mechanicsburg.The State Museum of Pennsylvania is closed until 2029 for an 80 million dollar renovation, the first since the current building opened in 1964. The work aims to improve both the visitor experience - and storage for the museum's collections and archives.In Cumberland County Wednesday night, supervisors in Middlesex Township delayed a decision on a massive data center development. That's because a standing-room-only crowd packed the township's meeting room, with additional residents unable to enter.The Hanover, York County-based snack food company Utz Brands reports a loss of $10.1 million in its second quarter.And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot. Every Friday, I'll share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.  Today's bright spot is this:Glamping, or "glamorous camping" is now available at three Pennsylvania State Parks.It's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you.

Walt Disney (DIS) rises in premarket trading after a mixed earnings print. One highlight for the House of Mouse? Jenny Horne details the company's Parks business revenue as a possible wind behind the stock's lift. Elsewhere, Uber (UBER) share took a sharp turn downward. The ride-sharing company missed revenue estimates and provided weaker-than-anticipated guidance for its 3Q.======== Schwab Network ========Empowering every investor and trader, every market day.Subscribe to the Market Minute newsletter - https://schwabnetwork.com/subscribeDownload the iOS app - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/schwab-network/id1460719185Download the Amazon Fire Tv App - https://www.amazon.com/TD-Ameritrade-Network/dp/B07KRD76C7Watch on Sling - https://watch.sling.com/1/asset/191928615bd8d47686f94682aefaa007/watchWatch on Vizio - https://www.vizio.com/en/watchfreeplus-exploreWatch on DistroTV - https://www.distro.tv/live/schwab-network/Follow us on X – https://twitter.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/schwabnetworkFollow us on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/schwab-network/About Schwab Network - https://schwabnetwork.com/about

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for August 4, 2026. We kick things off with WNBA coach Cheryl Reeve's contradictory stance on gender and sports — she's all for trans inclusion on the court, but suddenly cares about protecting women's jobs when men start taking WNBA coaching positions. We break down why that logic doesn't hold up, and use Caitlin Clark's rise (and the Tiger Woods parallel) to make the case that talent, not identity, drives audiences and revenue. In the news roundup, we cover Todd Blanche's move closer to confirmation as Attorney General, the DOJ's attempt at its first-ever deportation under the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, and Hadi Matar's conviction for the attack on Salman Rushdie. Then we dig into a resurfaced story about federal funding and aborted fetal tissue research, and the policy changes under the Trump administration that have curbed it. We're joined by American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson to tackle a listener question about the risks of running an Airbnb, sharing wild stories of "teen takeover" ragers that have destroyed people's homes — and asking whether there are ever real consequences for the people responsible. For Digging Deep, we take on Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's claim that she avoids "even the appearance of bias" — made, ironically, on Michelle Obama's podcast. Then we get into the messy, headline-grabbing story of Ohio Congressman Max Miller, facing domestic violence allegations from his ex-wife (whose father is a sitting senator) as an Ohio ballot deadline looms. Plus, we look at Spain allocating millions to migrant minors while native Spanish children face deep poverty, we take a raw look at the Twin Falls, Idaho In-N-Out shooting and the armed bystander who stopped it, and we bring you the latest on Jeanine Pirro's clash with the White House. We close things out with a Bright Spot about a Nashville police officer who talked a man down from a bridge with three simple words. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for August 3, 2026. We open with New Jersey Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer saying publicly what many moderate Democrats have been thinking privately — that the Democratic Socialists of America should form their own party rather than using the Democratic Party as a vehicle for building socialist power. We explain why this is significant: the DSA is not an ordinary faction within the Democratic coalition. Its own website describes its mission as building a party designed to defeat capitalist oligarchy, draft a new constitution, and create a democratic socialist republic. It does not want to reform the Democratic Party. It wants to destroy it from within and replace it with something fundamentally different. We walk through what communism actually promises — from each according to their ability, to each according to their need — and what that has produced every single time it has been tried. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, President Trump announced he called off what he described as the biggest planned military strike since World War II after Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other Middle Eastern nations asked him to pause as they work to finalize a denuclearization deal with Iran. Then the FBI confirmed that Iranian hackers breached water systems in seven states, causing loss of pressure and flooding, and warned local utilities to disconnect control systems from the internet and ensure manual operation capability — with Minnesota alone confirming 30 targeted water systems. And Todd Blanch's path to Attorney General confirmation cleared after Senators Cornyn and Tillis said they were satisfied by the DOJ's official statement that the anti-weaponization settlement fund was dead — meaning Blanch now appears to have the votes to be confirmed. We also cover the contradiction at the heart of the Iran negotiations — where President Trump says a deal is in progress and Tehran says no negotiation is happening. We explain why this is unsurprising: the Quran permits lying to enemies, Iran has considered itself at war with the United States for nearly 50 years, and the decimation of Iran's leadership structure in the initial strikes has left multiple competing voices with no single authoritative negotiating position. We say what we believe: Trump has done as much as he can to avoid full military escalation. We're not sure it's avoidable. We also cover Zoran Mamdani's government-run grocery stores — where residents will need a special shopper's card to access 30% below-market prices — and note the delicious irony that New York City requires an ID card to buy government-subsidized groceries but calls voter ID racist. We suggest that if they called it a shopper's card at the polling place, Democrats might finally get on board. Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson discuss whether pulling over for a funeral procession is still considered basic respect — and both say yes, without hesitation. Teri shares the story of her mother, who was 13 years old when her father died and never forgot watching cars pull over and people step outside to stand at attention for a man they had never met. Kimberly shares the story of accidentally wedging herself between two limousines in a funeral procession while driving from Benton to Bossier — realized it mid-drive, and discreetly exited as quickly and apologetically as possible. The larger point: funerals aren't for the dead. They're for the living. And when strangers pull over to honor someone they never knew, the family feels it. We dig deep into the Democrat Promise to America — a document modeled on Newt Gingrich's Contract with America, produced by a Democrat congressman and circulated to all 212 House Democrats for signatures. The document says the party is capitalist, not socialist. That it wants safety, not lawlessness. That it will prioritize balancing the budget. That government should solve problems, not create them. That it embraces free speech and persuasion over purity. And that Democrats are proud, not ashamed of America. Out of 212 House Democrats, 15 signed it. Fifteen. We let that sit there. We also cover a one-mile radius in Flushing, New York — where social adult daycares have been billing Medicaid for more than $100 million per year, with storefronts shuttered and rooms empty. We connect it to the broader point that waste, fraud, and abuse in government programs are not accidents. They are incentives — what happens when bureaucracies have no accountability, no profit motive, and no one asking whether the money is actually doing any good. We also cover Capital One's motion to dismiss a lawsuit by President Trump for debanking his company after January 6th — in which Capital One's defense is that it was actually concerned about money laundering. No evidence presented. Bold strategy. For our Bright Spot, Tuskegee University has implemented a new dress code requiring students to arrive on campus in a business suit and proper shoes — as if heading to a business meeting — prohibiting bedroom slippers, bonnets, do-rags, and revealing clothing in class or the cafeteria. We make the case this is not respectability politics. It is the understanding that how you present yourself shapes how you see yourself — and that you walk differently in dress shoes than you do in sneakers. Tuskegee is preparing its students for a lifetime of success. We call it a bright spot. And we close with words of wisdom on dressing for success — from Ralph Lauren, Zig Ziglar, Susan C. Young, and Dabashish Mridha. The clothes don't make the man. But it helps if you look in the mirror and see success staring back at you. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Reading residents will be visiting the Schuylkill River on Saturday to clean and enjoy the outdoors. The Riverzilla event connects people with the waterway.Cumberland County is recording a number of mosquito samples which have tested positive for West Nile Virus this summer. Ongoing surveillance is taking place across the county.At the state Capitol in Harrisburg Wednesday, immigration advocates called on Gov. Josh Shapiro to shut down a youth detention center in Berks County and end collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.The Hershey Company is reporting second quarter profits of $457.7 million, which surpassed Wall Street expectations.And now today's deep dive:As Pennsylvania's baby boomers continue to age, more Gen X and Millennial adults are finding themselves as caregivers for their parents. In the second installment of the Designing Dignity series, Kiley Koscinski from our friends at WESA takes a look at how care managers in Japan are bridging medical and social support.And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot.  Every Friday, I'll share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.   Today's bright spot is a very personal one for us here at WITF - and one that we share with you, our listeners.WITF has learned that The Morning Agenda is now an award-winning podcast.And I say this with complete humility as well as pride in our small but mighty WITF news team.The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Foundation has honored WITF with first place podcast honors among all medium sized radio markets across the state.It's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you. 

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 30, 2026. We open with the Texas Senate race — where Democratic nominee James Tallarico released a polished campaign ad called Waking Up, featuring him driving a full-sized Dodge Ram 1500 through Texas oil fields and farm country. There's one problem: it's not his truck. Tallarico drives a Chevrolet Colorado, but its tinted windows made the interior too dark for filming, so his campaign rented the Dodge from a local company. We make the distinction between normal campaign staging and renting a persona — because the entire ad was designed to sell Tallarico as a natural extension of working Texans, and the truck was the centerpiece of that message. We also note that Republicans handed Democrats an opening by nominating Ken Paxton — damaged goods with a messy personal and political record — instead of Wesley Hunt, who would have won this race by a landslide. Texas Republicans got this one wrong. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, President Trump's Attorney General nominee Todd Blanch is in limbo after John Cornyn and Thom Tillis signaled they would not support him in the Senate Judiciary Committee — concerned about a proposed fund to compensate victims of political prosecution under Biden, including January 6th defendants, even after Blanch testified under oath the deal was dead. Trump is reportedly considering withdrawing the nomination until both senators leave office in January. Then the federal government demanded Colorado repay $8 million in Medicaid funds after an audit found the state had billed for services totaling more than 24 hours in a single day for the same patients — a mathematical impossibility. Colorado disagrees with the findings. And thousands of military-age North African men breached the border between Morocco and Spain at Ceuta — overwhelming local law enforcement, with at least nine people killed in the chaos. Spain's Supreme Court recently ruled that sea arrivals cannot be deported without due process hearings. Most of Spain's borders are water. We also cover the WNBA's latest self-inflicted embarrassment — the league itself posted and then deleted a video from All-Star Weekend showing Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers and Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese apparently agreeing to a $400 bet on the outcome of a game between their own teams. The WNBA's own rulebook explicitly prohibits players from wagering on league games, with penalties ranging from fines to lifetime bans. We ask the obvious question: what are the odds that Angel Reese faces the same consequences Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham would face in the same situation? Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson respond to a listener question about the growing number of rules new parents are imposing on grandparents before they can see a newborn — mandatory vaccinations, isolation periods, mask requirements, no kissing — and trace it directly to the damage Anthony Fauci did to medical credibility during COVID. A generation raised on social media sees the exception, not the rule, and draws sweeping conclusions from rare worst-case scenarios. Teri's advice: get the vaccines with 50-year safety records, do your research on the newer ones, and for the love of everything good — let grandparents kiss the babies. We dig into a J7 report — tracking antisemitic violence in the seven countries with the largest Jewish populations outside Israel — which found that 2025 was the deadliest year for antisemitic attacks in the Western world since 1994. There were 23,000 antisemitic attacks in those seven countries last year alone, including 20 murders of Jewish people motivated by hatred of Jews — three in the United States. We trace the rise to mainstream media coverage of Israel's response to October 7th that portrayed military action against a terrorist organization as genocide — providing ideological cover for people who were already antisemitic to act. We also connect it to the intersectionality framework that positions whoever appears most oppressed as the default sympathetic party — a framework that simultaneously claims to support women, gay people, and Palestinians, without reckoning with the fact that none of those three positions are compatible with each other under Hamas governance. For our first Bright Spot, President Trump announced that Middle East mediators — including Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey — have reached an agreement on the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, with a phased plan to rebuild Gaza, establish a new Palestinian government, and guarantee Israel's security. We call it what it is: not a ceasefire, not a pause, but a structured plan — and potentially the most significant Middle East development in a generation. For our second Bright Spot, the island nation of Micronesia — 75,000 people spread across 607 islands in the South Pacific — used to charge $65 per megabit per second per month for internet access because the government ran the only internet provider. When the government ended its monopoly and allowed private companies in — including Starlink — the price dropped 99% to 78 cents per megabit and internet access jumped from nearly nothing to 88% of the population. All they did was end the government monopoly. We connect it directly to New York City's government grocery store plan — and suggest Mamdani study Micronesia before he opens his first store. We also cover New York City bodegas allegedly allowing customers to use EBT food stamp cards to purchase kratom — an herbal extract not approved as food, a drug, or a dietary supplement — and potentially THC products. We call it what it is: SNAP trafficking, a federal crime that diverts money intended for nutrition into products that have nothing to do with nutrition. We also note that families of 9/11 victims are asking organizers of the 25th anniversary Ground Zero memorial to bar Mayor Mamdani from attending — citing his political positions, his anti-Semitic endorsements, and his statement during his campaign that the worst thing about 9/11 was that his aunt feared people were looking at her suspiciously. We say that day belongs to the families and to the fallen — and that Mamdani would be a distraction from both. And we close with 73-year-old Dave Whitlow of Richmond, Virginia — who has spent eight years volunteering twice a week at the Children's Hospital of Richmond as a professional cuddler of premature babies. On busy days he holds eight different babies, some weighing less than two pounds, giving them the human contact their developing systems need. As he places each one back into their NICU bed, he tells them the same thing: grow strong, grow smart, grow kind. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 29, 2026. We open with Anthony Fauci's appearance before the Senate Homeland Security Committee — where he invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times over nearly four hours, refusing to answer questions about COVID-19, gain-of-function research, federal records, and his role in shaping the pandemic response. He even invoked the Fifth when asked whether a red folder was sitting in front of him. We walk through the constitutional tension at the heart of the hearing: Biden's sweeping preemptive pardon covers Fauci for any federal offense between 2014 and January 19, 2025 — and under an 1896 Supreme Court ruling, a pardoned witness can no longer claim Fifth Amendment privilege because the danger of prosecution has been removed. Fauci's lawyers are apparently betting the autopenned pardon might be invalidated. We also point out that the Fifth Amendment does not protect a witness from future perjury — meaning the only real jeopardy Fauci faced was if he lied again. His diaries, which he confirmed are his, already prove he lied to Congress about school closures and gain-of-function. Biden may have given him immunity from punishment. He may also have given Congress the power to compel the truth. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, Fauci's Senate testimony — 111 Fifth Amendment invocations, a contempt vote expected next week. Then the Trump administration officially banned gain-of-function research globally — expanding last year's China-specific ban to all foreign nations and the United States itself, with HHS and the State Department issuing a joint statement on biosafety standards. And the Senate confirmed Jay Clayton as the new Director of National Intelligence on a party-line 51-47 vote — in part because Clayton refused to tell Democrat senators that he believed Joe Biden won the 2020 election fairly. We also cover President Trump's ban on importing humanoid robots manufactured in China — framing it as a national security issue rather than a tariff. We explain why this is correct: Chinese robotic firms have been pouring money into R&D, producing advanced prototypes that can lift, run, climb stairs, and mimic human gestures. Importing them would stifle American domestic robotics manufacturing and potentially introduce devices receiving overnight software updates from servers in Beijing. Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson take on the trend of celebrity children dropping their fathers' last names when they turn 18 — specifically Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's daughter, and Tom Cruise's daughter Suri. Teri makes the case that this isn't really about the name — it's about what happens when a parent loves winning more than they love their children's relationship with their other parent. She shares a story from their own extended family where a mother kept her children away from their father for 20 years based on lies — and when the truth came out as adults, the son found his father, the father died shortly after, and the son's relationship with his mother was shattered permanently. The data on children without fathers is not ambiguous. The children who are protected from the bitterness of divorce are the ones who grow up most whole. We dig into Zoran Mamdani's pied-à-terre tax — a second-home tax he promised would affect 13,000 properties. When the city published the list of people subject to the tax, it contained more than 960,000 names and their addresses — effectively doxxing nearly a million New Yorkers, including celebrities who campaigned for Mamdani like Cynthia Nixon, plus Anna Wintour and Woody Allen. It also included people who have lived in their homes as their primary residence for 27 and 30 years respectively, now being billed $43,000 in additional annual taxes on top of their existing property taxes. One resident compared it to a command and control government like Cuba or China. We call it exactly what it is — a communist mayor who said he was going to tax the rich and is now taxing anyone he can find an address for. We also cover the co-owner of the Seattle Storm WNBA team allegedly approaching two teenage girls holding pro-Sophie Cunningham signs at a game — girls wearing XXXY t-shirts in support of women's sports — and unleashing an expletive-filled rant that left one of them in tears. The team apologized. We note that these girls bought tickets, spent money on parking and concessions, and chose to spend their evening at a Storm game. The ownership treated them as political opponents. We also note that the same signs held at a Fever game in Indianapolis would have received a very different reaction. For our Bright Spot, Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt introduced the Boasberg Act — named after the Washington D.C. federal judge who has repeatedly blocked Trump administration actions before being overruled by the Supreme Court. The bill does three things: requires fully randomized case assignments so plaintiffs can't judge-shop, implements transparency measures to verify the randomization is actually being followed, and removes a judge from a case if the Supreme Court overrules them in that same case. We call it exactly what it is — a structural fix to a systemic problem that has cost taxpayers time and money and allowed activist judges to function as a one-person veto over the will of the American people. We also cover Chicago's government grocery store experiment — where Mayor Brandon Johnson gave a company called Yellow Banana $13 million in subsidies to reopen seven Save-A-Lot locations in food deserts, promising $26 million over ten years. Yellow Banana closed all seven stores in less than two years. The reason: you cannot sustain a grocery store selling at below-market prices. New York City is now launching the same experiment. We suggest they call Chicago first. We also cover Nancy Sinatra's claim on X that the founding fathers would have banned firearms if they'd known about automatic weapons — and explain why this is historically illiterate. The founders specifically ensured colonists could own the weapons of war of their era. The Battle of Lexington and Concord was triggered by the British attempting to confiscate cannons. And the Second Amendment says arms — not muskets. And we close with 14-year-old Jory Thomas, who brought his lariat camping along the Yellowstone River because he'd been practicing roping every day after school. While camping, he heard cries from the middle of the rushing river — a man clinging to a cooler after his raft hit a bridge upstream. Jory waded in, threw his lariat, roped the man on the first try, and pulled him to shore. He said God was basically putting him in place. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 24, 2026. We open with California's mail-in ballot system — and the 150,000 ballots rejected in the June primary as invalid. Out of 8.5 million ballots returned, nearly 94,000 arrived too late and another 50,000 failed signature verification. We connect it to the Los Angeles mayor's race, where Spencer Pratt held second place in ballots received before Election Day — and then mysteriously dropped to third as post-Election Day ballots arrived and a democratic socialist surged from third to first. We explain why California's system — which mails ballots to every registered voter, accepts them up to seven days after Election Day, and allows signature corrections after the fact — is designed for maximum permissiveness rather than maximum integrity. We also note that the pressure from Trump's DOJ is producing results: states are now publicly acknowledging ballot problems they would have quietly buried before. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, President Trump issued new tariffs on 60 countries — including Canada, Mexico, the UK, and EU members — based on a new legal justification targeting forced labor in supply chains, after the Supreme Court struck down his prior tariff authority earlier this year. Then four Somali immigrants in Minnesota pled guilty to defrauding Medicaid out of millions by using AI to fabricate patient notes for medical visits that never happened, billing the government for fictional services through a fake company called Brilliant Minds Services LLC. And the Democratic Party announced its 2028 primary schedule — placing South Carolina first because of its higher proportion of Black voters, a state Democrats haven't won in a presidential election since Jimmy Carter in 1976. We call it what it is: racial politics dressed up as party reform. We also cover the man who disguised himself as a police officer and murdered Minnesota state Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband in a politically motivated attack — sentenced this week to life in prison. We say plainly: political violence cannot be given an inch, regardless of who commits it or who the targets are. What happens in Mexico — where candidates are killed and hung from bridges — cannot be allowed to happen here. We dig deep into a congressional reform proposal with two straightforward components that somehow don't already exist. First, ban members of Congress from having sexual relationships with congressional staffers — including colleagues' staffers, not just their own. Second, require FBI background checks for all House employees within 30 days of starting work, plus a foreign influence disclosure form requiring staffers to reveal any contracts or payments from foreign governments within the past three years. We explain why both of these are urgent: active investigations currently implicate congressional staffers as potential agents of Qatar, China, and Cuba — multiple cases involving China and Cuba alone. Congressional staffers write the bills, negotiate in back rooms, and exercise enormous real power. We should know who they are and who is paying them. Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson revisit the question of how to find couple friends — and arrive at the same beautiful, frustrating conclusion they always do. Couple friendship is seasonal, it's fragile, it's devastated by divorce, and it is almost impossible to manufacture. The best couple friends come through your children's sports, through shared seasons of life, and occasionally through the miraculous coincidence of your children marrying each other's best friends' children. Guys don't have friends — they have wives. And their wives have friends. And those friends have husbands. That's the whole system. We also cover LeBron James signing with the Philadelphia 76ers — and President Trump's answer when asked in the Oval Office whether LeBron or Michael Jordan is the greatest of all time. Trump said he only likes people who like him, and therefore: Michael Jordan, all the way. We agree with the conclusion if not necessarily the methodology. We also discuss John Fetterman's midterm strategy advice for Democrats — delivered in his signature style: don't be weird, don't be communist, don't be weirdo socialist, don't praise Mao, and don't do crazy stuff. We call it the most useful political advice any Democrat has given their party in years, and note that it will almost certainly be ignored. Then it's Fake News Friday — including whether Mamdani admitted he lacks authority to invade Poland, whether the EU makes more fining U.S. tech companies than taxing its own, whether right-wing extremists in the UK were arrested for planning to disrupt Muslim events, whether a Minnesota woman was convicted of saying a slur to a Somali man accused of rape who was never prosecuted, whether Ben Franklin performed electroshock experiments on slaves, whether the Smithsonian put that in a museum exhibit, whether Trump announced a third-term run, whether a New York school district hired a robot teacher, and whether the Obama Presidential Library stiffed its plumber out of nearly $4 million. Sophie Cunningham's shoes sold out in under 24 hours. We couldn't get any for prizes. For our Bright Spot, Paul Jackson was driving on I-5 near Seattle when he spotted an SUV drifting across three lanes with an unconscious driver and a terrified child in the back seat. He pulled alongside the out-of-control vehicle, wedged it against the concrete barrier, brought both cars to a stop, jumped out, put the SUV in park, and stayed with the woman and child until emergency services arrived. Quick thinking, steady hands, and the willingness to act. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 23, 2026. We open with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Tallarico's reparations proposal — made at a July 20 campaign event in DeSoto — calling for tuition relief, homeownership grants, and government-funded baby bonds for Black Texans, all in the name of repairing past harms. We walk through everything he left undefined: who qualifies, what the eligibility standard is, where the funding comes from, and what the total cost would be. We also walk through the genealogical reality of a multiracial nation — including the head of the NAACP who discovered she had an ancestor on the Mayflower, and the uncomfortable question of what happens when the same family tree contains both slaveholders and slaves. We make the theological point that a grievance machine with no limiting principle is not a policy. It is a dependency engine. The debt of slavery was paid — Lincoln said so, and the Civil War proved it at a cost of more American lives than any conflict before or since. The answer is not racial accounting. It is equal citizenship, strong families, honest education, safe communities, and a culture that celebrates achievement instead of grievance. In our Top 3, first-time unemployment claims dropped to 187,000 — the lowest level since 1969 under Richard Nixon, coming in 22,000 below the prior week and well under what economists had projected. Fewer layoffs means steadier families. Then a member of Vice President J.D. Vance's Secret Service protective detail was suspended and placed under criminal investigation for allegedly leaking operational security information to the media — specifically complaining about unpredictable travel schedules. A Secret Service agent who can't keep a secret should not be in the Secret Service. And New York City landlords filed a lawsuit against the Mamdani administration's rent freeze — arguing that the Rent Guidelines Board was packed with political allies who then manipulated their own data to justify a two-year freeze on rents for more than a million tenants. We explain what rent freezes actually produce: slumlords, abandoned buildings, and a housing stock that deteriorates because owners cannot raise revenue to maintain it. We also cover two men stabbed in an unprovoked attack on New York City's Upper West Side — the attacker reportedly shouting Allahu Akbar — one victim Asian, one wearing a yarmulke. We note that Mamdani's response to antisemitic violence in his city is to promise to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu. We connect the violence to a broader point: when leadership sets a tone of weakness, confusion, and ideological hate, this is the inevitable result. Our American Mamas Terry Netterville and Kimberly Burleson tackle the question of whether wives say things to their husbands that would devastate them if said in return — and the answer is an unambiguous yes. Terry admits she tells Kevin his hair is dirty, that he can't wear that outfit, and that mowing the lawn is his job — while acknowledging that if Kevin said any of those things to her it would ruin her day. The conversation becomes a warm, funny, and surprisingly insightful look at how different couples absorb criticism differently, why the way you're raised shapes what you can and cannot say to your spouse, and what happens when a wife goes on strike to make everyone appreciate what she does. We discuss Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever — who has gone public in defense of women's sports, saying truth matters, biological sex has consequences in competition, and that protecting the integrity of women's athletics is not hatred of anyone. We make the point she is actually making: you can treat transgender people with dignity and still say that female sports should be reserved for biological women. Those two things are not in conflict. They are the only coherent position. In our Digging Deep segment, Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave what may be the clearest explanation of the Trump Doctrine we have ever heard — summarizing it in one line: Iran says eye for an eye. Trump says a head for an eye. We unpack the game theory behind it — tit for tat with disproportionate response. If you are nice to Trump, he is nice back in equal measure. If you are mean to Trump, he will be worse to you than you could ever possibly imagine. Iran fires on one tanker, the U.S. takes out a port, a tower, and every radar site in reach. Iran fires on two tankers, the U.S. goes on a 12-day bombing campaign eliminating bridges in and out of the country. The mullahs keep acting confused. The reason is they have never seen anything like this from an American president. Rubio also shared that Iran is sending messages through third countries every day begging to make a deal — but every deal they make, they either break or try to renegotiate. They are not ready yet. They will be. We also cover Ted Cruz's prediction that Zoran Mamdani will become the next U.S. senator from New York — replacing Chuck Schumer, who Cruz believes can no longer win a Democratic primary in the state — and that Mamdani is the single most powerful Democrat in America right now. We connect it to AOC leading New Hampshire polling for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination, and to DSA-backed candidates winning primaries across the country. For our Bright Spot, a new Empire Center for Public Policy survey — conducted in New York, one of the most left-leaning states in the country — found that only 24% of respondents prioritize reducing greenhouse gas emissions over lower energy prices, 63% oppose mandatory home heating electrification, and 60% oppose letting individuals sue oil companies for climate change. The noisy minority demanding zero fossil fuels, electric heat mandates, and climate lawsuits does not represent most Americans — even in New York. That is common sense, and common sense is always a bright spot. We also cover the Houthis attacking two Saudi oil tankers — Iran's last meaningful proxy after Hamas was decimated by Israel and Hezbollah was severely weakened — and make the strategic case that doing the hard thing now makes tomorrow easier. Letting Iran build nuclear weapons capable of reaching Europe would have made tomorrow catastrophically harder. And we close with two-year-old Lucy Moline, who heard that her five-year-old sister Emma needed a bone marrow transplant after a rare disease stopped her bone marrow from producing red blood cells — and volunteered to be the donor because she wanted to be brave and help her sister. The transplant worked. Emma is cured. Is there anything better than sisters? May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hour 4 - Lebron watch , Peter Lambert/ Trade Deadline and B Scott reacts to KD talking to Draymond.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 22, 2026. We open with President Trump attending the dignified transfer of four fallen U.S. service members at Dover Air Force Base — and the political left's insistence on finding fault with it. We explain what a dignified transfer actually is: not a press conference, not a campaign event, not a photo opportunity. It is the most solemn responsibility a commander-in-chief carries — standing on behalf of 340 million Americans to receive sons and daughters who left home in uniform and came back draped in the flag. We also note a detail that made no headlines: President Trump gave the family of Lieutenant Tyler Feehan, who was from Georgia, a ride home on Air Force One. We contrast this with the man who checked his watch at an identical ceremony. And we put the 18 casualties in historical context — fewer than the invasion of Grenada, fewer than the invasion of Panama, against a military exponentially larger than either. We are not losing this conflict. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, Trump-backed candidates swept Republican primaries in Arizona — with Andy Biggs winning the gubernatorial nomination to challenge Katie Hobbs, Mark Lamb winning the 5th Congressional District nomination, and retired NFL kicker Jay Feeley winning the 1st Congressional District nomination. More than 95% of Trump-endorsed candidates win their Republican primaries — a political endorsement success rate unprecedented in American history. Then the FBI captured fugitive Khalid Satari — a fraudster who had fled to Dubai after allegedly bilking Medicare out of $547 million through a scheme of kickbacks and bribes to doctors for unnecessary genetic testing across Georgia, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. He was arrested overseas and returned to the United States to face trial. We also want to know who the doctors are. We also push back on MyPillow CEO and Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell's proposal to give illegal aliens amnesty through conditional work visas with no expiration date. We acknowledge Lindell is a patriot and his heart may be in the right place. We also note that we have seen this movie before. A work visa with no expiration date plus a family and a mortgage will produce, in exactly the timeline the left expects, a demand for citizenship and a voter registration form. The second chance we are willing to offer: $2,600 from the federal government to fly home and try the right way. That is the second chance. We are not offering a third. Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson respond to a listener question about wheelchair abuse at airports — and Teri, as a former flight attendant, confirms it has always happened but is now out of control. The mechanism is simple: wheelchair assistance gets you to the front of the boarding line, but requires you to wait for everyone to deplane before you can exit. So the people who needed a wheelchair to board are miraculously able to walk off the plane on their own. Teri connects it to the broader problem of low-trust cultural values meeting high-trust American systems — and notes that systems built on good faith get abused when the good faith isn't there. We sit down with Brett Ackleberry of Focus on the Family to discuss PluggedIn.com — a free media discernment tool that provides in-depth content reviews of movies, TV shows, video games, books, and YouTube channels from a Christian perspective. We discuss The Odyssey, The Passion of the Christ, and the difference between entertainment that earns its darkness and content that simply delivers it. Brett explains that PluggedIn is not there to tell anyone what to watch — it's there to give families the information they need to decide for themselves. It's free, it's thorough, and it's available right now at PluggedIn.com. We cover the New Jersey non-citizen voter registration story — where the state called 6,000 improper registrations a software glitch and the software company said it was not their error — and connect it to the 24 states that still refuse to use the federal SAVE system, which is now free, to verify citizenship on their voter rolls. States with Democrat trifectas represent the vast majority of those refusing to use it. They also insist no illegal voting is occurring. We predict a government shutdown in September — driven by Senate Republicans who won't pass spending bills the House has already sent over — and say plainly that the game is simple. Democrats stall, Democrats posture, and the country pays the price. Republicans in the Senate don't have to help them. John Thune needs to pick a side. For our Bright Spot, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a consolidated ruling across multiple cases involving detained illegal aliens — finding that they do not have a constitutional due process right to bail that would allow them to remain in the country while fighting deportation proceedings. This year alone, judges had released more than 11,000 ICE detainees before removal could be completed. The Fifth Circuit just closed that door across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas — and in doing so, removed the incentive for detained illegal aliens to fight and delay removal rather than accepting voluntary departure. We also cover a Tennessee Republican candidate named Brian Stewart whose campaign presents him as a Marine veteran — with the Marine Corps itself reportedly saying his premature discharge was incongruent with Marine Corps standards. We say it plainly: you do not lie about your military service. It is not a resume bullet point. It is sacrifice, discipline, and danger. Some gave the full measure of devotion. If you are thinking about lying about that, stop. And we close with Jenitar and Jortham Na'amuana — who already had four children when they discovered their fifth pregnancy was actually four babies. Natural identical quadruplets. No fertility therapy. Odds of one in fifteen million. All four delivered by C-section at 28 weeks, each weighing just over two pounds, all doing well and expected to go home soon. They are certainly doing their part. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 21, 2026. We open with a 29-year-old Democratic Socialist named Milat Kiros who just defeated a 15-term congresswoman in Colorado's Democratic primary — with the backing of the DSA and Bernie Sanders — and who has told voters exactly what she believes: that America is exploitative and extractive, that ICE is a terror apparatus, that Israel's military aid should end, and that the existing world order needs a reckoning. We note that she arrived in America because her father won the U.S. diversity visa lottery — a program that saved her family from an Ethiopian civil war and famine — and that she earned degrees at Washington College and Notre Dame Law School on American soil. We are not speculating about her worldview. She has put it in writing. And she is one general election away from Congress in a district Republicans haven't won in half a century. We say what needs to be said: believe people when they tell you who they are. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, the federal government suspended $867.5 million in Medicaid payments to California and $199 million to Minnesota after CMS reviews flagged high-risk fraud in home health and other services — with CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz saying the administration is done chasing stolen funds after they've already left the building. Then New Jersey's Democratic Governor Mikey Sherrill revealed that a software glitch allowed 6,000 non-citizens to register to vote in 2023 and 2024, with 400 of them actually casting ballots — a story the governor got ahead of before the DOJ could, and one that makes the case for the SAVE Act more powerfully than any speech. And 100 New York state lawmakers sent letters to the congressional delegation demanding ICE be abolished — the same ICE that exists because Congress decided in 2002 that someone should enforce federal immigration law. We also cover the Trump administration's discovery that the federal government has been sending nearly $100 million per year to dead people — and has now stopped. The fix required asking one basic question: is the person we're sending this check to still alive? That question, apparently revolutionary in Washington, was answered by comparing 885 million federal payments against death records. Government doesn't have a revenue problem. It has a stewardship problem. Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson debate whether they'd go back to old TV over smart TVs — and the answer is a resounding yes, for reasons that go beyond nostalgia. Streaming costs more than cable ever did, smart TVs are listening and tracking everything, you can no longer skip commercials, the content is ideologically slanted, and nobody can find anything. Teri misses Blockbuster. Kimberly misses the DVR. Both agree that horizontal screens make sense because human eyes are horizontal — and that vertical video on phones is a waste of the aspect ratio God gave us. We dig deep into former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper's early release of 4,234 prisoners following an NAACP lawsuit arguing that incarceration is racist — a number that exceeded the 3,500 agreed to in the settlement and included 99 sex offenders and 24 people convicted of murder. Within five years, 2,412 of those released — a 57% recidivism rate — had committed new crimes and been rearrested, including charges of rape and murder. Among those released and later arrested for murder was the man accused of stabbing Ukrainian immigrant Iryana Zyrutska to death on a Charlotte train. Roy Cooper is now the frontrunner for the North Carolina Senate seat. We say plainly: we should stop rewarding failure. There are people dead in North Carolina today because their governor let violent criminals out of prison to kill again. We also cover the State Department's follow-up report confirming that Cuba is actively helping Iran, Hamas, and other jihadist organizations expand their influence throughout the Western Hemisphere — connecting the dots between communist Cuba's survival dependence on American adversaries and the broader axis of pressure being applied to the United States from multiple directions simultaneously. No single threat defeats us. Together, they create friction, consume resources, divide attention, and complicate national security. All of it from 50 miles off the coast of Florida. For our Bright Spot, Texas Representative Andy Hopper wrote a letter responding to a Mexican senator who demanded that Texas stop enforcing its border laws because migrants were dying trying to cross illegally. Hopper's response is worth reading in full — citing Texas independence, the Alamo, San Jacinto, and the sovereign right of every nation to determine who enters its territory. He also told Mexico directly: we will not accept border policy instruction from a government that has allowed cartels to dominate vast regions of its own territory. Abandoning enforcement would not save lives. It would guarantee the cartels more victims, more profits, and more power. We call it exactly what it is — a bright spot. We also cover New York City's welfare rolls hitting 865,000 cash assistance recipients under Mayor Mamdani — up from a low of 336,000 under Mayor Bloomberg — and note that a democratic socialist does not view this as a crisis. He views it as an achievement. We view it as what happens when you promise free things and then wonder why more people ask for them. We also discuss the case of a 29-year-old woman who died after a ChatGPT conversation that increasingly centered on themes of sacrifice, death, and resurrection — with the AI telling her she would need to die before becoming who she was meant to be. We make the distinction between a mentally healthy person who reads letting your old self die as a metaphor for personal growth, and someone already struggling with depression or delusion who reads it as instruction. AI is a language tool. It produces eloquent, resonant language. It does not know who is reading it. And we close with Scottish runner Josh Kerr breaking the world mile record in London — running the mile in 3 minutes and 42 seconds to break Hicham El Guerrouj's record that had stood since 1999, the longest anyone had held the official world mile record since records began. In front of 60,000 fans, a man ran a mile in the time it takes most of us to find the remote. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 20, 2026. We open with a 100-page State Department report titled Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism — and the findings go far beyond what most Americans have ever been told about Cuba's reach inside this country. For nearly 70 years, Cuba has been building a revolutionary infrastructure in the United States — funding and directing organizations from the Black Panthers and the Weather Underground to modern Antifa networks, Code Pink, the Democratic Socialists of America, and the National Lawyers Guild, which provided legal assistance to 20,000 people arrested during the 2020 George Floyd unrest. We connect the dots from Bill Ayers launching Barack Obama's political career from his living room to Chessa Boudin running San Francisco's DA office to LaToya Cantrell traveling to Cuba to study economics before being indicted on 16 counts of malfeasance. The pattern, once you see it, cannot be unseen. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, three U.S. service members were killed in the Middle East over the weekend — 19-year-old Private Isabella Gonzalez of Carrollton, Texas and 25-year-old First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan of Ewa Beach, Hawaii died in an Iranian missile attack on their base in Jordan, and a third service member was killed during a controlled detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone in Iraq. A fourth remains missing. We honor them with Abraham Lincoln's words — the last full measure of devotion. Then a man was arrested for setting off an incendiary device outside the ICE offices in lower Manhattan — fireworks and gasoline, two minor injuries, a federal building housing ICE, immigration courts, and the FBI. And Maine Democrats selected Troy Jackson as their replacement Senate candidate for Graham Plattner — a man accused of mortgage fraud for lying about his primary residence to get a lower interest rate. Mortgage fraud, apparently, is the ceiling Maine Democrats are working with this cycle. We also take on Mayor Mamdani's declaration that he intends to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he sets foot in New York City — based on an International Criminal Court warrant that the United States does not recognize. We explain why this is constitutionally illiterate, diplomatically catastrophic, and practically impossible. The Constitution gives Washington, not City Hall, the authority to conduct foreign affairs. The UN sits in New York City precisely because heads of state must be able to travel there safely. If one mayor can arrest one head of state, no head of state will ever return — and the UN becomes a ghost town. Mamdani's job is to serve the people of New York City. Destroying the diplomatic credibility of the most important city in the world is not that. Our American Mama Teri Netterville makes the case that small talk is a lost art — and a more important one than most people realize. It's not filler. It's the appetizer to the main course. Terry talks about watching her shy daughter Summer learn to work a room by watching her mother walk across it toward the person standing alone. She credits her father, who could run any room because he made whoever was speaking to him feel like they were the only person there. She points to Princess Catherine and Bill Clinton as two of the best practitioners alive — and makes the case that if parents don't put the phones down and model this for their children, an entire generation will grow up incapable of the human connection that holds communities together. We also cover the media's outrage over President Trump presenting the World Cup trophy to Spain — headlines declaring he refused to leave the stage, sparked outrage, and embarrassed the country. We note that presenting the trophy was part of the plan agreed upon months in advance with FIFA president Gianni Infantino. We also note that if Joe Biden had done the same thing, the coverage would have called it proof of his vitality and connection to the world stage. In our Digging Deep segment, a new Echelon Insights poll reveals something stunning about young Democrats — they have a net negative view of capitalism of minus 31%, a net positive view of socialism of plus 35%, and a net positive view of free markets of plus 22%. All three of those positions cannot be simultaneously true. Free markets are capitalism. Socialism is the opposite of free markets. The same poll shows young Democrats under 50 support the Democratic Socialists of America with a net favorability of 54% while Democrats over 50 give the DSA only 28%. The Make America Healthy Again movement is the only political movement in the country with a net approval rating above 50% — and it's below 50% among Democrats. Apparently, Democrats don't want anything associated with Trump — including healthy food. We also push back on Republican strategists panicking about Iran hurting the party in the midterms. The American people are not bloodthirsty and they don't want endless wars. But there is a world of difference between opposing endless wars and surrendering to a regime that has chanted death to America every day for fifty years and was on the verge of obtaining a nuclear weapon. President Trump has made a reasonable case for a defined military objective. He could make it better. But rolling over is not an electoral strategy either. For our Bright Spot, the Israel Antiquities Authority and Tel Aviv University announced the discovery of massive wooden beams from Lebanon — burned and preserved since 586 BCE — that appear to be structural elements from the First Temple of Jerusalem, exactly as described in the Bible. The beams show an unusually high number of growth rings, confirming they came from the large, old trees of Lebanon that scripture specifically identifies as the building material. The Bible said it. The archaeologists found it. Another bright spot hidden in the dirt. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 17, 2026. We open with the Trump administration's straightforward approach to election security funding — if your state wants federal Homeland Security dollars, it must demonstrate it is taking basic, credible steps to protect its elections. The requirement: devote 3% of the grant toward election security. That's it. We explain why this is not extreme, not unprecedented, and not controversial to anyone acting in good faith — highway funding comes with rules, education funding comes with requirements, and the foundation of our entire system of self-government deserves at least the same standard of accountability as a road project. We also walk through every argument the left makes against voter integrity measures and explain why each one is a red herring designed to obscure the only real reason to oppose them. We dig deep into President Trump's primetime address on election security — laying out the five points he made and the documents he says back them up. China hacked voter rolls and now possesses the name, address, Social Security number, and driver's license of roughly 220 million registered American voters. China ran an influence campaign in 2020 to prevent Trump's reelection and may have attempted to create fraudulent ballots. That intelligence was intentionally concealed from Trump by U.S. intelligence agencies between 2018 and 2020. Evidence of fraud in Michigan was covered up and not robustly investigated by the Biden FBI. And more than 250,000 non-citizens are registered to vote in the United States, documented in four cooperating states alone. We note what the speech did not do — it did not claim the 2020 election was stolen or produce proof of widespread cheating. It presented declassified evidence of vulnerabilities, foreign interference, and institutional failures, and put pressure on the Senate to pass the SAVE Act. The people calling it election denialism didn't listen to it. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, a federal appeals court ruled that the Pentagon can require reporters to be escorted through the building and register before gaining access — overturning a lower court ruling that had sided with the New York Times, and finding that the policy was applied evenly to all media. Then Maine Democrats held a debate to replace Graham Plattner — featuring eight candidates, the first four of whom all lost their primary races this year, and a final candidate whose listed qualifications were that he writes songs and books. And Britain has a new prime minister — Andy Burnham, former mayor of Greater Manchester, replacing Keir Starmer whose Labour Party's popularity has collapsed under the weight of rising crime, mass immigration, and a government crackdown on free speech. Burnham will be the seventh prime minister since 2016. We are not optimistic about his relationship with President Trump. Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson take on the question of whether America has canceled grandma — and the answer is complicated. There's a legitimate version of the concern, where grandparents try to override parenting decisions while the parents are present, and a much more troubling version, where adult children cut off grandparents entirely for political or ideological reasons. Teri and Kimberly draw the distinction between a grandparent who steps in to discipline when a parent is right there versus a grandparent who is being pushed out because they're Trump supporters who like guns. One is a boundary conversation. The other is a tragedy. The Constitution's preamble says we are building this country for ourselves and our posterity — and cutting grandparents out of children's lives cuts the very thread of generational wisdom our republic depends on. We also cover what James Carville got right this week — that CNN should have aired President Trump's primetime address, even if they disagree with everything he says. Sunlight is the greatest disinfectant. Free speech works precisely because it trusts the American people to evaluate what they hear. The network that aired statements from the Chinese Communist Party without a fact-check decided it needed to fact-check the sitting president of the United States in real time. None of it holds together. We also take on the WNBA's treatment of Caitlin Clark — the greatest female basketball player in the history of the sport, who is being harassed by fellow players, subjected to demands that she denounce her own fans, and choked on the floor with no technical foul called. We offer the only explanation that fits all the evidence: it is racism, and it is the only category of racism the left refuses to acknowledge. Then it's Fake News Friday — including whether Trump wants to purge legitimate voters, whether a CNN poll found 125% of Americans disbelieve the election interference claims, whether Speaker Johnson has 1,500 unread texts, whether you can buy a piece of the MetLife Stadium World Cup field for $450, whether Mamdani watched the World Cup with Rikers Island inmates, whether Sacramento sanitation workers are photographing your trash, whether a man robbed a bank using a stolen kitten, and whether Pete Hegseth ordered soldiers with low testosterone transferred to the Navy. One of those is really fake news. For our Bright Spot, Senator Marsha Blackburn is reintroducing the Ban Birth Tourism Act — in direct response to the Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling — making the case that you should not be able to create a permanent legal anchor to the United States simply by giving birth on American soil without any commitment to this country whatsoever. And we close with 92-year-old Martin Gill of Wilmington, North Carolina — who retired from the oil fields, got bored, worked as a greeter at Sam's Club until that position was eliminated, and has now been the host at his local Chick-fil-A for six years. He says if you enjoy what you're doing, it's not work. He doesn't know what 92 is supposed to feel like — but he feels great. It's his pleasure. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The movement continues among state lawmakers to ban cell phones in schools. one central Pa. district says they have seen benefits from restrictive phone policies.Pennsylvania officials say the Trump administration could be holding up millions of dollars of Homeland Security grants until states comply with election demands. Lawmakers are calling for tighter commercial driver's license laws in Pennsylvania. Their calls come in the wake of the July 1st crash that killed a state police trooper in Schuylkill County.A data center being built by Amazon in the greater Philadelphia area is sparking public outcry.The Public Utility Commission will hold public hearings on allegations related to operational and service-related issues within the Veolia water system. The Trump administration replaced an exhibit on slavery at the site of President George Washington's home in Philadelphia with a version that historians say whitewashes the nation's history. The Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority is partnering with Amtrak to provide passenger rail service from Reading to Philadelphia.The Harrisburg Fringe Festival began Thursday and stretches through the weekend. The fourth annual festival features more than 200 independent artists at nine venues across the city.And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot. Every Friday, I'll share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.  Today's bright spot is this:Two orphaned bear cubs are making central PA their new home.ZooAmerica North American Wildlife Park in Hershey took the pair of 5-month-old American black bear cubs in, after they were rescued by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.It's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you. 

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 16, 2026. We open with a story that should trigger Logan Act investigations — Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch has revealed that New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani attempted to arrange a secret meeting with the Iranian government while the United States is actively engaged in military operations against Iran. We walk through the constitutional principle at stake: the United States speaks with one voice in foreign affairs, that voice belongs to the federal government, and a city mayor has no more authority to conduct foreign policy than he has to declare war. We also connect it to a pattern — from Obama's hot mic moment with Medvedev to John Kerry's shadow diplomacy during Trump's first term — of people who want the power of the presidency without the accountability of holding it. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, the U.S. launched strikes against Iran for the sixth consecutive day — targeting air defenses, rocket and drone facilities, and ports, with reports of 35 killed and 300 wounded in Iran, and a blockade-running ship disabled after repeated warnings. Then President Trump fired a newly appointed federal prosecutor in Seattle less than an hour into his first day on the job — a position filled by federal judges after Democrat Senate obstruction left the slot unconfirmed for more than 120 days. And a former Marine and congressional candidate in Florida was arrested for posting videos to social media calling for the murder of President Trump, describing him as the Antichrist, and advising what weapons and shooting patterns should be used — the latest of more than 20 documented assassination plots against the president, by far the most in American history. We also cover the Trump administration restoring the public charge rule — requiring that applicants for lawful permanent residence demonstrate they can support themselves without depending on government assistance. We explain why this was standard immigration practice throughout most of American history, why it is the policy of virtually every developed nation on earth, and why the most compassionate thing you can say to someone who wants to become an American is that we believe you can make it here on your own. Our American Mama Teri Netterville responds to a podcast host who said she doesn't trust any mother who wants to be with her children all day — and that homeschooling is weird. Teri's answer is simple and devastating: children are not a burden. They are a reward from God, an inheritance, arrows that parents are called to form and launch into the world for impact. The proof showed up at a stoplight on the way to the studio — Psalm 127, in a bumper sticker, on a car Teri had never seen before, minutes before a segment she didn't know she'd be having. She calls it a God thing. We do too. We dig deep into Senator Elissa Slotkin's remarks at a Michigan town hall — where she explained her opposition to the SAVE Act by saying it would make it impossible for any Democrat to win any election anywhere. We play the clip. We let her words sit. And we point out that if requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote is what makes Democrats lose elections, Senator Slotkin has just told you everything you need to know about who has been voting in Democratic primaries. The SAVE Act doesn't prevent anyone who is legally entitled to vote from voting. It just makes sure people who aren't legally entitled to vote don't get to cancel out the votes of those who are. We also cover Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego and reports that he had relationships with multiple congressional staffers before his marriage — and use it to return to the core principle that power causes brain damage. The part of the brain that processes empathy is measurably suppressed in people who accumulate power and believe they deserve it. The only people largely immune to this effect are those who genuinely believe they don't deserve the power they have. Public office is a public trust — and the people underneath you in that office are not perks of the position. We also cover a White House teleprompter technician who allegedly fed Trump's speech content into prediction markets before the speeches were delivered — trading on insider access to profit from words she was trusted to keep confidential. Every position of trust comes with an obligation of restraint. Some people just haven't figured that out yet. For our Bright Spot, the New York Times ran a piece headlined Mom, Dad, I Want to Be a Welder — following young Americans in their twenties who had the grades for college, chose trade school instead, and are thriving. Trade school enrollment is up nearly 20% since 2020. Starting salaries for skilled tradespeople now beat many college-educated entry-level positions. And a 23-year-old welder from Arkansas named LaDonna Glass said it best — she felt like if she didn't go to college she would be a failure. She isn't. We close with Earl Nightingale's definition of success — the progressive realization of a worthy goal — and note that success begins the moment you commit to something worthy of your time, your talents, and your character. And we close with a 2007 photograph taken at a Barcelona charity raffle — a baby boy named Lamin Yamal posing with a young Argentine footballer named Lionel Messi. Eighteen years later, Lamin Yamal is on the Spanish World Cup team and Messi is considered the greatest of all time — and the two people in that photo are about to face each other in the World Cup final. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 15, 2026. We open with the biggest election integrity news in years — the House passed the SAVE Act as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, 217 to 209, with Speaker Mike Johnson delivering exactly what he promised us two weeks ago when he sat down with American Ground Radio. We explain what the SAVE Act actually does — and what it doesn't. It doesn't change who is eligible to vote. It doesn't alter the Constitution. It simply requires documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. We point out that we verify identity to board a plane, open a bank account, and buy a beer — and that the only people who benefit from not verifying citizenship at voter registration are people who aren't citizens. We also note that Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin's claim that no Democrat will ever win again if the SAVE Act passes raises an obvious question about how many non-citizens have been voting for her party. The bill now goes to the Senate, where John Thune needs to do his job — or be voted out at the first opportunity. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch testified before the Senate in his confirmation hearing — telling senators that his client is not the president but the American people, while more than 1,200 former DOJ employees signed a letter opposing his confirmation, which may be the best endorsement he could have received. Then the House passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent year-round — meaning darker mornings in winter and lighter evenings, with states currently on permanent standard time allowed to stay there. And Senate Democrats boycotted a hearing on government fraud, with only one Democrat showing up before leaving after his opening statement — even as investigative journalists Nick Shirley, James O'Keefe, and Dylan Heder-Gaudette presented documented findings on billions in fraudulent benefits claims. As Nick Shirley said, no dollar says Republican or Democrat on it. We also tackle the question of whether a New Hampshire state representative can drive 102 miles per hour on her way to the legislature and claim constitutional immunity from arrest under a provision dating back to the era of kings arresting parliamentarians on their way to inconvenient votes. We acknowledge the historical purpose of the law. We reject the application of it to someone who simply didn't plan her schedule well enough. Rules for thee but not for me is not a constitutional principle — and if you don't care about the safety of the people on the road, why would you care about the safety of the people you represent? Our American Mama Teri Netterville weighs in on the Emmy nominations — and the conversation becomes a broader indictment of an awards system that has completely lost touch with what Americans are actually watching. Greg Gutfeld hosts the number one late night show in the country. Not nominated. Taylor Sheridan has produced Yellowstone, Landman, 1923, and The Madison — all massive hits with critics and audiences alike. Not nominated. Meghan Markle's show As Ever received a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes, was called the sweet spot between irrelevant and intolerable by the Times of London, and was canceled. Emmy nominated. The awards don't reflect excellence anymore. They reflect ideology. In our Digging Deep segment, U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll announced that the Army has already met its 2026 recruiting goals — with 61,500 new recruits — eight and a half months before the year ends. Compare that to 2022, when the military missed its goals by 25%, and 2023, when it missed by 10%. Nothing changed except the administration and with it the clarity of purpose. We play Simon Sinek's story about a Marine recruiter who told a high school auditorium full of teenagers that not a single one of them was good enough to be a Marine — and walked out with the longest line of any recruiter in the room. People don't want to be told service is easy. They want to be challenged to be worthy of it. Trump and Hegseth figured that out. The numbers prove it. We also cover France's assisted suicide legislation — which has passed the lower house and would allow physicians and nurses to end the lives of patients who cannot do so themselves. The Catholic Church in France has threatened excommunication for any legislator who votes for it, and Pope Francis personally asked Macron not to sign it. We make the pro-life case plainly — compassion means walking with those who suffer, not eliminating the one who is suffering. A society's worth is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable, not by how conveniently it removes them. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has now threatened to shut down all Middle Eastern oil exports if Iran cannot export its own — using energy as a weapon exactly as both Iran and Iraq did during the 1980s war. We note that this is exactly why the Iraq oil pipeline deal through Turkey matters, why the Strait of Hormuz matters, and why at some point the president may have to say what needs to be said about ground troops. For our Bright Spot, a Spanish conservation group called El Burrito Feliz — the Happy Little Donkey — has deployed 18 donkeys around Doñana National Park on Spain's Atlantic coast, an area with the same fire-prone Mediterranean climate as Southern California. Since the donkeys were introduced, there has not been a single wildfire in the park in nine years. The donkeys eat the dry scrub and tall grasses that fuel fires, reach terrain that vehicles cannot, and cost a fraction of what California spends on fire suppression after the fact. We suggest California try it. What have they got to lose? And we close with Jenny Stepien, who walked down the aisle on her wedding day wishing her father could be there. Her father Michael had passed away ten years earlier — but he was an organ donor, and his heart had saved the life of a man named Tom Thomas, who became Jenny's pen pal out of gratitude. On her wedding day, Tom was there in person for the first time — to walk her down the aisle in her father's place. At the end of the aisle, Jenny placed her hand on Tom's chest and felt her father's heart beating one more time, just before she said I do. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 14, 2026. We open with the Democratic Socialists of America's national co-chair going on record calling for the abolition of the United States Senate — and we explain why this isn't a fringe idea anymore. The DSA wants to replace the Senate, the presidency, and the Supreme Court with a single legislative body allocated purely by population, rename it the People's Bureau, and hand it public ownership of the nation's largest corporations. We walk through what that actually means — that seven or eight major cities could effectively govern the entire country, that the constitutional protections for smaller states would vanish, and that the structure they're proposing is the same one that produced the Third Reich, the Soviet Union, and Communist China. We also note that 51% of the DSA's National Policy Committee openly identifies with communism, Marxism, or Marxist-Leninism — not according to conservative critics, but according to a report cited by the former Democratic chief counsel for the House Judiciary Committee. The Democratic Party needs to decide whether it is going to continue letting these people run under its banner. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, President Trump formally notified Congress that hostilities with Iran have resumed — opening a new 60-day window under the War Powers Act after Iran repeatedly violated the ceasefire and continued attacking civilian shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Then inflation dropped from 4.2% to 3.5% last month — the largest single-month decrease in four years — driven largely by falling gas prices during the ceasefire, with core inflation down to 2.6%. And Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett testified jointly before Congress requesting increased security funding — with Barrett revealing that six weeks ago her teenage son opened the front door to find their street filled with police cars responding to a swatting attack on their home. We also weigh in on President Trump's signature appearing on the new $100 bill as part of America's 250th anniversary commemoration — and we have a genuine disagreement about it. It's a milestone that comes once in a nation's history and deserves recognition. But putting a sitting president's name on currency in circulation is outside American tradition, starts to look like the kind of thing emperors and monarchs do, and gives his critics an easy target that's hard to defend. Our American Mama Teri Netterville makes the case that moms are still better matchmakers than any dating app ever invented — and backs it up with evidence. Three couples she personally set up are now married, including her own daughter Summer and Louisiana Tech baseball captain Phillip Matulia, whom Teri identified as the right match before her daughter was even willing to consider it. She also shares the story of Andrea Swift — Taylor's mother — who heard that Travis Kelce loves his mother, said ding ding ding, and the rest is history. Terry's conclusion: we know our children. Apps know your data. There's a difference. In our Digging Deep segment, a Fort Worth police officer threatened street preachers Richard Pankoski and David Grisham with disorderly conduct citations at a Pride parade — telling them directly that if someone is offended by their talking, that constitutes a problem warranting a citation. We explain why this is not a close constitutional question. The First Amendment does not exist to protect popular speech. It exists precisely to protect the kind of speech that offends people. The Fort Worth police chief acknowledged the officers were wrong — but we push back on his framing. They weren't wrong in the manner they addressed it. They were wrong to address it at all. Religious speech enjoys the same constitutional protection as secular speech. If marchers get to publicly celebrate what scripture calls sin, preachers get to publicly call it sin. We then turn to Zoran Mamdani's New York City — where Manhattan's average one-bedroom rent has hit an all-time high of nearly $5,500 a month and Brooklyn is setting its own records, with critics calling the housing situation DEFCON 1. We connect it directly to Mamdani's rent freeze threats, which gave every landlord in the city a powerful incentive to raise rents before the freeze could take effect, and to congestion pricing, which is now making it financially attractive to live inside Manhattan rather than commute — driving up rents from the demand side. The left created this crisis with its own policies and is now running on those same policies as the solution. For our Bright Spot, President Trump and Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi announced that U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by September 30th — ending a 23-year military presence that peaked at 170,000 troops and is now down to roughly 2,000. We also cover Iraq signing new oil deals with Chevron and other American companies to build pipelines running from Iraq through Turkey to Europe — bypassing the Strait of Hormuz entirely — which would permanently reduce Iranian leverage over global energy markets. And we close with 28-year-old Rishi Sharma, who at 18 became curious about World War II, interviewed one veteran, then another, then another, until curiosity became an obsession — and he has now spent every single day of the last ten years interviewing veterans of the Greatest Generation, preserving 3,000 firsthand accounts of American history on hard drives and SD cards before those voices are gone forever. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 13, 2026. We open with a story New York City's leadership refuses to learn from — a new report showing the city's share of America's million-dollar earners collapsed from 12.7% in 2010 to 8.7% in 2022, dropping New York from second to fourth in the national rankings as California, Florida, and Texas all dramatically grew their millionaire populations. We explain the core economic truth the left keeps getting wrong — affordability and willingness are two entirely different questions. Wealthy residents can afford to pay more. They are simply not willing to. And unlike ordinary citizens, they have the means to act on that decision immediately. When New York voters hired Zoran Mamdani to demand even more from the people already leaving, they didn't change the math. They accelerated it. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, Senator Lindsey Graham passed away suddenly over the weekend from an aortic dissection — a tear in the aorta that is often fatal before help can arrive. President Trump ordered flags lowered to half-staff and posted a tribute calling Graham a dear friend and a truly great man. Then South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster named Graham's sister, Darlene Graham Nord, to fill the remainder of his Senate term — with a special Republican primary scheduled for August 11th to select the party's nominee for the fall race. And the U.S. and Iran exchanged another round of fire over the weekend, with Iran firing missiles and drones at U.S. bases across the Middle East and the U.S. responding with strikes on Iranian military installations — including the first-ever use of unmanned naval drones against an Iranian port used to repair submarines. Our American Mama Teri Netterville reflects on the life of Lindsey Graham — and what she didn't know about him until he was gone. That his mother died at 53, his father sixteen months later, and that a 22-year-old Lindsey Graham adopted his 13-year-old sister so she could receive military benefits. That the same man who was Trump's fiercest critic in the first term became one of his closest allies and friends. That Democrats who disagreed with him on nearly everything counted him as a genuine friend. And that his finest hour may have been the Kavanaugh hearings — when Graham stood up among colleagues he called friends and said plainly what millions of Americans were thinking: what you are doing to this man is wrong. We also cover an 84-year-old Florida man suing Waffle House because a sign advertising their strawberry shortcake waffle caught his attention while he was walking and he tripped over a curb. We wish him a full recovery. We also note that attracting attention is the entire point of advertising, that curbs have been stationary obstacles since the invention of sidewalks, and that if noticing something relieves you of the obligation to watch where you're going, America is going to need an attorney on every corner. Some of them will have billboards. In our Digging Deep segment, CNBC released its annual ranking of the worst states to live in — and all ten are red states, every single one of which gained population from other states in 2024. Texas led the country with 72,000 net new residents. Tennessee gained 36,000. Oklahoma gained 34,000. Meanwhile, CNBC's ten best states include Vermont, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts — half of which are losing population to other states, with New Jersey alone shedding 64,000 residents in 2024. We examine CNBC's methodology — which rewards states for high minimum wages, mandatory union participation, gender ideology in law, abortion access, and no voter ID requirements — and conclude that CNBC has produced not a quality of life ranking but a Democratic National Committee platform checklist. The American people are voting with their feet, and the scoreboard is not close. We also cover ICE's latest weekend sweep — dozens of arrests including individuals convicted of murder, manslaughter, child sexual abuse, and drug trafficking — and ask the only question that matters: how is any reasonable person opposed to removing violent criminal offenders from the country? The answer, we conclude, is that the people most loudly opposed are not being reasonable. They are making an emotional leap to an accusation nobody actually made. For our Bright Spot, a new study projects that a one-gigawatt data center campus in northwest Indiana would generate $16.1 billion in regional economic output over 20 years, support nearly 15,000 construction jobs, and create $176 million in annual earnings once operational. We connect it to the Meta data center being built in northeast Louisiana — not yet complete, but already doubling teacher salaries in the surrounding community purely from tax revenue. Data centers are the railroads of the 21st century. If your community gets one, you are in tall cotton. President Trump is also planning a direct address to the American people on Thursday night about Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and the safety of global shipping — because in an era of constant rumor and social media speculation, there is no substitute for the president going directly to the people and telling them what's what. And we close with four-year-old Roman Butzlaff, who really wanted a friend. His family had split up, his grandparents were far away, and his new neighborhood didn't have many kids. So every morning he went outside, sat in a chair in the front yard, and waved at everyone who walked by. One neighbor crossed the street to introduce himself. Then another came. Then another. Before long, Roman had turned a street full of strangers into a community — and they came to his birthday parties, his soccer games, and his preschool open house. People like connecting. At a human level, not just behind a screen. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You’re listening to American Ground Radio with Stephen Parr and Louis R. Avallone. This is the full show for July 10, 2026. We open with a Senate map conversation nobody on the left wants to have — Democrats need to win every single toss-up race in November to take control of the chamber, while Republicans need only one. We walk through the Cook Political Report and Sabato's Crystal Ball projections, the four toss-up races that will decide everything — Alaska, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and North Carolina — and why Republican overconfidence is still premature even with the structural advantage. We also explain why Graham Plattner's implosion in Maine may not be the gift Republicans assumed it was, why Roy Cooper is very likely to pick up North Carolina, and why Ken Paxton is making a race in Texas far closer than it has any business being. In our Top 3 Things You Need to Know, President Trump refused to sign the bipartisan housing bill — saying he won't put pen to paper until Congress passes the SAVE Act — but the bill will become law without his signature anyway, and House Republicans plan to celebrate its passage regardless. Then Trump fired the remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission, citing the Seila Law decision as precedent and issuing a statement that the president reserves the right to remove individuals not fully aligned with the task of securing America's elections. And eight men from across the country — Ohio, Nebraska, Missouri, Washington, California, and West Virginia — have been indicted for plotting a drone and sniper attack on the UFC fight at the White House lawn, with all eight now arrested and facing life in prison. We also cover Joy Behar warning that President Trump is practically destroying democracy — and we note that the one place in America where a democratic election result was genuinely made null and void was the 2024 Democratic presidential primary, where Kamala Harris never won a single vote outside the convention floor. The Democrat Party is the party of projection. Whatever they accuse you of doing, they have already done. Our American Mamas Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson answer a listener question about Type 1 and Type 2 fun — and the conversation becomes a beautiful tribute to feral childhood. Type 1 fun is a roller coaster — thrilling in the moment, forgotten by morning. Type 2 fun is hiking in sleet, throwing rocks at alligators on the bayou, going off into the woods alone for hours while your parents had absolutely no idea where you were. The kind of fun that shapes you, scares you, and becomes the story you're still telling at 50. Teri and Kimberly worry that today's children — tracked by phones, sheltered from consequence, raised on Dateline — are growing up on Type 1 fun and missing the Type 2 experiences that built the people they became. We dig deep into California's 2022 decision to decriminalize loitering with intent to commit prostitution — signed by Governor Newsom on the grounds that 56% of those arrested were Black women, making it, in his telling, a racist law. The results, documented by City Journal and investigative journalist Abigail Schreier, are exactly what common sense predicted. Prostitution spiked immediately. Human trafficking followed. LAPD officers at the 77th Street Station rescued 123 children in 2024 — nearly eight times the number rescued in 2022, the year before the law took effect. Police now report seeing 14-year-old girls in G-strings on Los Angeles streets and having no legal authority to intervene. We make the case plainly: the left is not trying to reduce crime. It is trying to reduce the number of people arrested for crime. Those are not the same thing — and the difference is being paid for by the most vulnerable people on the streets. We also revisit a 1950 speech by Joseph McCarthy — and note that whatever his excesses, his core distinction holds up: there have always been two kinds of Democrats, the millions of loyal Americans who vote the ticket and want safe neighborhoods and stable jobs, and a small activist class that has been dragging the party toward something that looks less like democratic socialism and more like the thing McCarthy was warning about. The question in 2026 is whether that activist class is still the minority. Then it's Fake News Friday — including a California HOA fining residents for flying the American flag, activists pushing schools to teach Black English and girl math, Adam Sandler officiating Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding, a BB gun attack on a mosque that turned out to be carried out by a Muslim man, Iran threatening to kill President Trump at Khomeini's funeral, a new Broadway musical called Dolly about Dolly Parton, and CNN airing a quote from a fake congressman who runs a parody account. Justin Trudeau is now a backup dancer in a Katy Perry video. Spoilet Alert: that one's real. For our Bright Spot, weekly unemployment claims came in at 215,000 — with the January through July average of 213,000 representing the lowest sustained jobless claim numbers since 1968 and 1969, when the country had a third fewer people and the Vietnam draft was pulling hundreds of thousands of men out of the civilian workforce. We call it what it is — a labor market that is outperforming history in a country that was told it couldn't. And we close with words of wisdom on patriotism — from Calvin Coolidge, Edward Abbey, Adlai Stevenson, and Charles de Gaulle. You've got to love your country enough to tell the truth about it, defend it when it's right, and fight to make it better. May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In episode 2089, Jack and Miles are joined by comedian, writer, and co-host of Yo, Is This Racist?, Andrew Ti, to discuss… MAGA Rep hates his beautiful wife because Indian? Meta Data Center Donates Fecal Bacteria To Local Community, Eric Trump’s Bitcoin Venture Is Down $600 Million, Horror Is The One “Bright Spot” In Hollywood’s LGBTQ+ Representation, The Odyssey Trojan Horsed A Bunch Of Influencers Into Screenings and more! MAGA Rep Blasted for Cutting Indian-American Wife Out of Ad AI Could Use as Much Water as 1.3 Billion People by 2030, U.N. Report Warns 'I wouldn't want it anywhere': Officials trace rare bacteria back to Meta data center construction Wyoming tightens wastewater rules after Meta datacenter contractor flushed contaminated water Eric Trump’s Bitcoin Bet Erases $600 Million From Family Fortune Trump’s Son Wipes $600M From Family Fortune With Disastrous Bet LGBTQ Characters in Film Decline for Third Year Where We Are In Film: Analyzing LGBTQ Inclusion From Top Film Distributors LGBTQ Characters in Film Decline for Third Year ‘The Odyssey’ First Reactions Are Raves for Christopher Nolan’s ‘Astonishing’ Epic and ‘Flawless Filmmaking’: ‘Breathtaking, Bold and Perfection’ ‘The Odyssey’ First Reactions: “Staggering … Nolan’s Biggest Film to Date” Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ to Skip “Word of Mouth” Screenings A Trojan Horse Only Works Once: Why Universal’s Decision to Skip Influencer Screenings for ‘The Odyssey’ Is Good for the Entire Movie Business Has the social media influencer killed the art of critical film reviews? The Brewing Battle Between Film Critics and Influencers Who needs film critics when studios can be sure influencers will praise their films? Influencer screenings aren’t going away Influencers Didn't Hijack Film Criticism, Marketing Did How Twitter users became the film industry's favourite critics LISTEN: Jackpot & Foil (A COLORS SHOW) by SALIMATASee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Students from Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster won a national manufacturing competition, bringing home the grand prize of $100,000.Big Boy generated some big numbers for the Scranton area during its two-week stay at the Steamtown National Historic Site. As part of America's 250th birthday, there's a renewed interest in the Declaration of Independence. Philadelphia has more versions of the Declaration of Independence on display than any other city.Six projects across Cumberland County are receiving more than $750,000 in grant funding. Many of the recipients are using the money to improve or host sporting events.Former Pennsylvania State Senator Shirley Kitchen, who died last weekend, is being remembered as a tireless advocate for her district in North Philadelphia.Hundreds of people gathered Wednesday to remember Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Michael Pahira Jr, who was struck and killed by a tractor trailer along I-81 in Schuylkill County on July 1st. In Lancaster County, a 19-year-old man was killed when he lost control of his electric unicycle and was struck and killed by a tractor trailer on Route 322 Wednesday morning.The National Weather Service confirms a tornado touched down in Perry County, this past Sunday evening, July 5th.The York County Commissioners have issued a disaster declaration following severe storms over the July 4th weekend.The Penn State Extension now has a toll-free hotline that provides the latest ag news. Callers can hear updates on the latest crop production, weather outlook, and disease and pest management issues facing crop producers in the state. Lawmakers in the state House have overwhelmingly approved a bill to provide opportunities for hunter-trapper education in Pennsylvania schools. The bill calls for the Pennsylvania Game Commission to develop the program for students in grades 6 through 12. Saturday is the start of the 40th annual ChambersFest in Chambersburg, Franklin County. The event started as a way to commemorate the town's historic rebuilding in 1864.And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot. Every Friday, I'll share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.  Today's bright spot is this: It's that time of the year, when hikers attempting thru-hikes on the Appalachian Trail, are passing through Pennsylvania. Luzerne County native Hunter Lacomis is one of them. He was inspired by his uncles to take the trek through 14 states along the East Coast. It's been one year since public media's federal funding was revoked. Thanks to our community, we're still here for you and looking toward the future. Join the thousands of members who are building a stronger WITF. Go to  www.witf.org/givenow. And thank you. 

Jerry is in for Gio alongside Boomer today, starting with the U.S. World Cup loss to Belgium and a wild Mets win highlighted by Juan Soto's clutch ninth-inning home run. Boomer still wants Francisco Lindor traded, while C-Lo steps in for updates right after Boomer calls out Rami's early day off. Plus, hear the sounds of the U.S. defeat, Dave Sims calling Jose Caballero's two homers backed by Cam Schlittler's strong pitching, and Soto's dramatic blast. Finally, video emerges of Dianna Russini on a family cruise, and Mike Vrabel and Kevin Burkhardt attend the Taylor Swift wedding.

Heated debate in Harrisburg Wednesday shows the two parties are far apart on a state tax credit that benefits private schools. And that's just one reason the state budget is overdue.A Pennsylvania State Police trooper was killed Tuesday after being hit by a tractor trailer as he inspected a stopped tractor trailer along I-81 in Schuylkill County.In Dauphin County... Lower Paxton Township Police are beginning an enforcement effort they're calling Operation Colonial Crush. Environmental advocates continue to fight against a proposed hydroelectric project in Cuffs Run, York County. As we head into the July 4th weekend, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is raising awareness of boater safety and the dangers associated with Boating Under the Influence, or BUI. As America celebrates its 250th birthday, a Central Pennsylvania amusement park is marking its 100th anniversary.And now it's time for our weekly segment called The Bright Spot. Every Friday, I'll share a positive news story that may have gotten lost amid this week's news cycle.    Today's bright spot is this: Amid all the stories about America's 250th, here's one that could help you party like it's 1776. The New York Public Library asked a local brewery to make a beer concocted from a 250-year old recipe in their collection - George Washington's original recipe.If you're already a member of WITF's Sustaining Circle, you know how convenient it is to support programs like this. By increasing your monthly gift, you can help WITF close the budget gap left by the loss of federal funding. Visit us online at witf.org/increase or become a new Sustaining Circle member at witf.org/givenow to help build a sustainable future for WITF and public media. Thank you.