﻿<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Rivera and Reeves]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rivera and Reeves is a news and politics podcast that cuts through the chaos with honest analysis, sharp humor, and a no-nonsense approach to the headlines—news that’s clear, honest, and actually fun to listen to.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png</url><title>Rivera and Reeves</title><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 22 Jun 2026 23:46:45 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Rivera and Reeves]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[riveraandreeves@protonmail.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[riveraandreeves@protonmail.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Rivera and Reeves]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Rivera and Reeves]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[riveraandreeves@protonmail.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[riveraandreeves@protonmail.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Rivera and Reeves]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[R&R Ep 227 | SCOTUS Just Blew Up the Gerrymander Game — And Tucker Can't Answer the Question]]></title><description><![CDATA[The redistricting wars are coming, the Senate races are wild, and Tucker's running out of dodges.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/r-and-r-ep-227-scotus-just-blew-up</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/r-and-r-ep-227-scotus-just-blew-up</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2026 19:00:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/196546790/798393b76f00570f416f3c7d92a1394a.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is our last episode until September, and we packed it. The Supreme Court's <em>Louisiana v. Callais</em> ruling just rewrote how every congressional map in the country gets drawn, the 2026 Senate races are shaping up to be a Democrat strategy disaster, and Tucker Carlson sat down with the New York Times and got caught making things up in real time. Plus &#8212; Spencer Pratt is running for mayor of Los Angeles, and we are not joking. Hit play, then hit subscribe so you're locked in for the September comeback.</p><p>&#128680;<strong>Heads up &#8212; this is our last episode until September.</strong> We're taking a summer hiatus and we'll be back the first Monday of September. We sent an email to all subscribers yesterday with the full details &#8212; check your inbox.</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><h2>Episode Highlights</h2><ul><li><p>Why Rivera &amp; Reeves is taking a summer hiatus and what&#8217;s coming back in September</p></li><li><p><em>Louisiana v. Callais</em>: the 6-3 SCOTUS ruling on racial gerrymandering and Justice Jackson&#8217;s dissent</p></li><li><p>The redistricting battle map &#8212; Texas, California, Virginia, Florida, and what each move actually nets</p></li><li><p>Senate races to watch: Susan Collins vs. Graham Platner in Maine, the Democrat primary chaos in Michigan</p></li><li><p>Tucker Carlson&#8217;s New York Times interview and the &#8220;it&#8217;s well known&#8221; school of argumentation</p></li><li><p>The grift cycle: how Tucker, Megyn Kelly, Sean Ryan, and the Young Turks are all running the same script</p></li><li><p>Spencer Pratt&#8217;s mayoral run in LA and why secret Democrat voters might actually flip the city</p></li></ul><h3><strong>Follow Us On Youtube!</strong></h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet? Join us LIVE Tuesday &amp; Thursday at 12:30 pm, get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4981,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:158,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2026-04-23T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><h2><strong>Chapters</strong></h2><p><strong>00:00</strong> Cold Open &amp; Summer Hiatus Announcement</p><p><strong>07:14</strong> Louisiana v. Callais &amp; the SCOTUS Ruling</p><p><strong>22:08</strong> The Redistricting Battle Map</p><p><strong>33:04</strong> Senate Races to Watch in 2026</p><p><strong>41:00</strong> Tucker Carlson&#8217;s New York Times Interview</p><p><strong>53:11</strong> The Podcast Grift &amp; the &#8220;Unite With the Left&#8221; Pivot</p><p><strong>1:11:20</strong> Spencer Pratt for LA Mayor</p><p><strong>1:19:40</strong> Outro &amp; September Plans</p><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Unfiltered Live (April Edition) | Nerd Prom, Skin Suits, and Sharon's Deleted Post]]></title><description><![CDATA[The legacy media got fired, found Substack, and now they want you to call them brave.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/unfiltered-live-april-edition-nerd</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/unfiltered-live-april-edition-nerd</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 25 Apr 2026 17:17:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/195441979/19cbe40d167470b826347d2ed500b13c.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Jim Acosta, Joy Reid, Mehdi Hassan, and Wajahat Ali walked into a group chat &#8212; and Meseidy listened so you don't have to. </p><p>This month's Unfiltered Live unpacks the White House Correspondents' Dinner spectacle, the legacy media class that got fired and rebranded as Substack "independents," and the tidy little skin-suit trick where progressive ex-anchors gut a platform and then demand respect for it. </p><p>Meseidy and Rachel also dig into Sharon McMahon's post-Charlie Kirk meltdown, the New York Times article rehabilitating her cowardice, and why deleting a post and then explaining it on someone else's terms isn't principle &#8212; it's marketing. </p><p>Plus: book recs, prepper sewing classes, a bird that builds its own house, and the great Joanne's Fabrics tragedy of 2025. </p><p>Subscriber-only. Unedited. Unrehearsed. Exactly the way you wanted it.</p><p><strong>&#127911; Hit play above. This one's just for paying subscribers &#8212; no clips, no cross-posts, no YouTube version coming later. If a friend forwarded you this and you want in on the next one (last Saturday of May, 11:30 AM ET), upgrade below. Tell them we sent you.</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><strong>&#128680;One quick note before you hit play:</strong> <strong>we're off next Tuesday and Thursday.</strong> Rachel's at an event in DC, and frankly we both needed a beat to breathe before the next news cycle eats us alive. We'll be back the week after.</p><p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Becky Dultmeier&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:35795342,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@beckydultmeier&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;d6d16ab5-1a5d-4578-934e-54d313339360&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Sarah Twilley&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:21387472,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@vocevivace&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ea2c55ae-e060-452f-bb96-bec3b89d5f53_1060x1060.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;32105a46-c8d8-4175-b0c6-f8db721454ce&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><h3>Episode Highlights</h3><ul><li><p>Why the White House Correspondents&#8217; Dinner stopped being journalism and became &#8220;nerd prom&#8221; &#8212; and why a roomful of Chrissy Teigens tells you everything</p></li><li><p>The 250-signature open letter from &#8220;defunct journalists&#8221; begging attendees to protest Trump, and why nobody who actually fears a gulag tweets jokes about gulags</p></li><li><p>The Substack skin-suit problem: identify the institution, kill it, gut it, wear the carcass &#8212; Meseidy walks through the Stephen Miller piece on how legacy media is colonizing independent publishing</p></li><li><p>The double standard nobody on the left will name: independent right-leaning media built from zero while ex-MSNBC hosts get welcome workshops and promotional emails</p></li><li><p>Sharon McMahon&#8217;s deleted-post damage control and why The New York Times trying to launder it as a principle didn&#8217;t land</p></li><li><p>A complete tonal pivot into books, dystopian novels, the tailor bird, and why the right is learning to sew while the left wonders why Joanne Fabrics closed.</p></li></ul><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[R&R Ep. 226 | SPLC Indicted for Paying Nazis — And That's Just the First 20 Minutes ]]></title><description><![CDATA[The SPLC paid Nazis, Virginia tried to gerrymander itself into a one-party state, and Hassan Piker thinks stealing from Target is a revolution.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/r-and-r-ep-226-splc-indicted-for</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/r-and-r-ep-226-splc-indicted-for</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:10:30 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/195240135/17a2322510e979405eae40b782ca4ced.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Southern Poverty Law Center just got indicted by a federal grand jury &#8212; and the details are wild. Meseidy and Rachel break down the charges, the shell companies, the payments that allegedly went straight to a Klan leader and the guy who helped organize Charlottesville. If you&#8217;ve been wondering why the &#8220;Nazi&#8221; narrative against half the country never seemed to die, this episode connects some uncomfortable dots.</p><p>Also on the table: Virginia&#8217;s mid-decade redistricting power grab, the judge who threw it out hours later, and what it means heading into the midterms. Plus, Hassan Piker and the New York Times are now openly pitching &#8220;micro looting&#8221; as political protest, and a sitting congressman went on the House floor to argue Jesus was gender-fluid. You can&#8217;t make this stuff up. But they&#8217;re trying.</p><p>New episodes every Tuesday and Thursday.</p><p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Lindsey K&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:214306212,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@truzkl&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2373e10f-9349-49ea-a496-8e05675a81e0_747x565.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;be1c362d-6be1-444b-ad33-9836bc2ed0c2&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Elisa Planty&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:72865996,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@elisaplanty&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1b8b5632-204b-4eb0-b460-e0377a15cf5f_1167x1062.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;f021365d-2f24-453e-8dc6-81211da9738d&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Sara&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:3150467,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@sara572527&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/540021fc-f0ae-42b6-b6b9-955e9ffb0b3f_3072x4080.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;00807c2f-9ccf-43a0-a6cb-4870ab0ce920&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Elizabeth&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:56427819,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@elizabethawg515&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;c6016228-fcf4-434c-8b3b-e43cc739f236&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Trudi Laurence&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:103620904,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@tlaur&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/93f9a52e-2d68-478c-ac57-727abf6a4666_1287x1071.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;441866b9-9057-434a-b8d5-787886eb4622&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><h2>Episode Highlights</h2><ul><li><p>Federal grand jury indicts the SPLC &#8212; between 2014 and 2023, they allegedly paid over $3 million to Klan leaders, Nazi groups, and the organizer of the Charlottesville &#8220;Unite the Right&#8221; rally</p></li><li><p>Shell companies with names like &#8220;Center Investigative Agency&#8221; (CIA) and &#8220;Fox Photography&#8221; used to funnel payments &#8212; none ever incorporated, none ever had employees</p></li><li><p>Turning Point USA, PragerU, Alliance Defending Freedom, Moms for Liberty, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali all still sit on the SPLC&#8217;s &#8220;hate group&#8221; list</p></li><li><p>Virginia&#8217;s redistricting referendum passes by a hair, gets invalidated by a circuit court judge the next day &#8212; the new map hands Democrats 10 of 11 seats in a state Harris won by 5 points</p></li><li><p>Hassan Piker, The New York Times, and a New Yorker staff writer sit down to openly advocate &#8220;micro looting&#8221; as legitimate political protest</p></li><li><p>Congressman Justin Jones tells the House floor that God is gender-fluid and Paul agrees &#8212; and David French apparently thinks he&#8217;s more Christian than most Republicans</p></li></ul><h3><strong>Follow Us On Youtube!</strong></h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet? Join us LIVE Tuesday &amp; Thursday at 12:30 pm, get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><p></p><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/campaign-games/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4472,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:157,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2026-04-21T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/campaign-games/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2><strong>Chapters</strong></h2><p><strong>00:00</strong> &#8212; Intro &amp; Subscriber Reminders</p><p><strong>03:40</strong> &#8212; The SPLC Federal Indictment</p><p><strong>20:40</strong> &#8212; Shell Companies &amp; the Paper Trail</p><p><strong>32:45</strong> &#8212; Virginia&#8217;s Redistricting Power Grab</p><p><strong>47:50</strong> &#8212; Hassan Piker &amp; &#8220;Micro Looting&#8221;</p><p><strong>1:00:00</strong> &#8212; Defending Brian Thompson&#8217;s Murder</p><p><strong>1:11:50</strong> &#8212; Congressman Says God Is Gender-Fluid</p><p><strong>1:20:10</strong> &#8212; Wrap Up &amp; Subscriber Info</p><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 225 | The Analog Comeback Is Real — But AI Is Already Here]]></title><description><![CDATA[The analog comeback is real &#8212; but AI is moving faster than anyone can keep up with, and we're not sure that's a good thing.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-225-the-analog-comeback-is-real</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-225-the-analog-comeback-is-real</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:58:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/194848437/f3da58e73b11ebdb3ed4e6e51215f995.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The kids want tin can phones. Gen Z is buying vinyl at rates we haven&#8217;t seen since 1983. And somewhere in the middle of all that, AI quietly became everything.</p><p>Meseidy and Rachel skip the Iran cycle this week to talk about what&#8217;s actually shifting underneath it &#8212; the pull back toward analog, and the tech disruption that&#8217;s moving faster than any generation before has had to process. They don&#8217;t agree. Meseidy&#8217;s cautiously optimistic that AI frees up time for real human connection. Rachel wants to know what gets lost in the trade. They push each other, they leave it unresolved, and they&#8217;re honest about the fact that nobody &#8212; including the people building the tools &#8212; really knows where this lands.</p><p>Also in this one: Virginia&#8217;s redistricting vote, a 90s-week family experiment, the wait-until-8th movement, and the Oklahoma principal who tackled a school shooter and got crowned prom king.</p><h2>Episode Highlights</h2><ul><li><p>Why Gen Z is driving a $1.4B vinyl resurgence and snapping up disposable cameras &#8212; the analog comeback isn&#8217;t a trend, it&#8217;s friction</p></li><li><p>The &#8220;tin can&#8221; phone rundown: how Rachel&#8217;s daughter is actually talking to her friends again, and why wait-until-8th pacts are catching on</p></li><li><p>A 90s-week family experiment with six kids, one shared laptop, and zero personal phones &#8212; the results</p></li><li><p>Where Meseidy and Rachel split on AI: useful tool vs. something we don&#8217;t understand fast enough to trust</p></li><li><p>The CEO of Anthropic&#8217;s own admission that AI is moving faster than any previous tech &#8212; and why that matters for parents, schools, and workers</p></li><li><p>Why the left&#8217;s next climate-panic energy is going to land on AI (and what that&#8217;ll look like)</p></li><li><p>A feel-good close: the Oklahoma principal who tackled a school shooter getting crowned prom king</p></li></ul><p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Madelin Davis&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:98418314,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@madelindavis&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6940a142-ba17-4005-97c3-943a183f73c7_2320x2320.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;959e72f5-5123-42fa-9b9a-bf9fd519b932&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Kate&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:116937975,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@kate456550&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/be32fd62-f004-4c83-8e70-ad84c34ed818_400x342.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;2b5425cb-4b1b-41d4-9b40-e56a30a3fcdd&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Elizabeth&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:56427819,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@elizabethawg515&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;af7abc2e-fd6b-4206-a1e8-62c27e93600e&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Becky Dultmeier&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:35795342,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@beckydultmeier&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;b52280c2-80e6-45eb-9a72-ed6aea4bb29b&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Trudi Laurence&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:103620904,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@tlaur&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/93f9a52e-2d68-478c-ac57-727abf6a4666_1287x1071.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;24e41c0a-6d09-435a-939d-d23ef0feed69&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><h3><strong>Follow Us On Youtube!</strong></h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet? Join us LIVE Tuesday &amp; Thursday at 12:30 pm, get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/campaign-games/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4600,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:156,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2026-04-16T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/campaign-games/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2><strong>Chapters</strong></h2><ul><li><p>00:00 Intro &amp; Virginia redistricting vote</p></li><li><p>04:00 Why we&#8217;re skipping the Iran news cycle</p></li><li><p>07:40 The analog comeback: tin cans, vinyl &amp; Gen Z</p></li><li><p>14:45 Wait Until 8th and keeping kids off smartphones</p></li><li><p>26:00 AI is different &#8212; and it&#8217;s moving faster than anything before</p></li><li><p>41:20 What AI is actually doing to how we think and work</p></li><li><p>54:30 Is AI inevitable? Where Meseidy and Rachel disagree</p></li><li><p>1:10:30 Good news: Oklahoma principal crowned prom king</p><p></p></li></ul>
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          <a href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-225-the-analog-comeback-is-real">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 224 | The MAGA Civil War Is Manufactured — But the Blackpill Is Real]]></title><description><![CDATA[The MAGA civil war might be manufactured &#8212; but the blackpill is very real, and it's eating the right from the inside out.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-224-the-maga-civil-war-is-manufactured</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-224-the-maga-civil-war-is-manufactured</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:00:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/194358601/98f93a12-3d0c-4e59-977c-fc3ca3b699ec/transcoded-1776365962.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The MAGA civil war narrative is getting a lot of airtime &#8212; but is it real, or is it a media-manufactured information war? This week, Meseidy and Rachel dig into an Axios piece claiming conservative women are "snatching the MAGA megaphone," and they have questions. Candace Owens isn't conservative. Bari Weiss isn't MAGA. And most normie Republican women couldn't pick Tomi Lahren out of a lineup. Then the conversation goes deeper: Tucker Carlson's slow-motion deconstruction, the left's bizarre new coalition with anti-Trump right voices, and Ilhan Omar urging Democrats to embrace Marjorie Taylor Greene. Yes, really. Plus: Hassan Piker at Stanford and Yale, Sharon McMahon's UVU commencement controversy, TMZ hitting Capitol Hill, Trump's triumphal arch proposal, and American Girl Dolls bringing back the classics. It's chaos out here &#8212; and nobody panic-spirals better than Megyn Kelly.</p><p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Lindsey K&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:214306212,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@truzkl&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2373e10f-9349-49ea-a496-8e05675a81e0_747x565.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;ca459350-5092-448a-b235-872385aeebb0&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Kate&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:116937975,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@kate456550&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/be32fd62-f004-4c83-8e70-ad84c34ed818_400x342.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;959154a5-6386-4786-a684-1f8d7837b920&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Sara&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:3150467,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@sara572527&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/540021fc-f0ae-42b6-b6b9-955e9ffb0b3f_3072x4080.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;820801b7-34bf-45ca-9f38-c8c1058d74c5&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Becky Dultmeier&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:35795342,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@beckydultmeier&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;6e127153-6ab6-44c3-8aa7-61f3bc841556&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Trudi Laurence&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:103620904,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@tlaur&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/93f9a52e-2d68-478c-ac57-727abf6a4666_1287x1071.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;87d66288-1c44-4382-adce-570eff82ca57&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><h2>Episode Highlights</h2><ul><li><p>The Axios &#8220;Women Snatch the MAGA Megaphone&#8221; piece &#8212; why the framing is lazy, the sourcing is thin, and Bari Weiss has no business being in that article</p></li><li><p>The real MAGA fracture: it&#8217;s not about new conservative women voices &#8212; it&#8217;s a blackpill spiral driving people away from politics entirely</p></li><li><p>Tucker Carlson&#8217;s deconstruction arc: equating Islam and Christianity, idolizing authoritarian-adjacent governance, and apologizing his way off the conservative reservation</p></li><li><p>Ilhan Omar urging Democrats to embrace MTG and Candace Owens &#8212; the grievance coalition is officially open for business</p></li><li><p>Hassan Piker campaigns with Congress members while speaking at Yale and Stanford in full Castro cosplay &#8212; and Democrats can&#8217;t bring themselves to say no</p></li><li><p>Sharon McMahon exposed: the &#8220;nonpartisan government teacher&#8221; posted anti-Charlie Kirk content after his assassination, got pushback, deleted it &#8212; and now she&#8217;s the UVU commencement speaker</p></li><li><p>Trump&#8217;s triumphal arch: 250 feet, gold lions, bigger than the Lincoln Memorial &#8212; and Rachel has opinions</p></li><li><p>American Girl Dolls bringing back the historical originals &#8212; and the chat approved</p></li></ul><h3><strong>Follow Us On Youtube!</strong></h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet? Join us LIVE Tuesday &amp; Thursday at 12:30 pm, get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4827,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:155,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2026-04-14T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><h2><strong>Chapters</strong></h2><p><strong>0:00</strong> Cold Open &amp; Welcome </p><p><strong>3:30</strong> Axios Article: "Women Snatch the MAGA Megaphone" </p><p><strong>13:45</strong> The Real Story &#8212; Blackpill, Panic Platforms &amp; the Normie Conservative Woman </p><p><strong>18:30</strong> Tucker Carlson's Deconstruction Arc </p><p><strong>22:00</strong> Megyn Kelly's Spiral &amp; Trump's Approval Numbers </p><p><strong>28:15</strong> The Grievance Coalition &#8212; Ilhan Omar, MTG &amp; the WB Alliance </p><p><strong>33:45</strong> Hassan Piker, Yale, Stanford &amp; the Democrat Party's Guardrail Problem </p><p><strong>44:00</strong> Sharon McMahon &amp; the UVU Commencement Controversy </p><p><strong>57:30</strong> TMZ on the Hill, Trump's Triumphal Arch &amp; American Girl Dolls </p><p><strong>1:15:40</strong> Wrap-Up</p><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 223 | Swalwell Scandal: The Media Knew for Years | Iran Blockade & Trump's AI Jesus Post]]></title><description><![CDATA[The media knew about Swalwell for years. The real story isn't the scandal &#8212; it's who buried it and why.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-223-swalwell-scandal-the-media</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-223-swalwell-scandal-the-media</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 14 Apr 2026 20:15:53 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/194181290/e169ca55f8cf3fd4965c1b7fe03cd4b1.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Iran negotiations stalled, a partial blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and oil prices climbing past $100 a barrel &#8212; Meseidy and Rachel break it all down without the spin. They also dig into the Eric Swalwell scandal: the allegations, the media's suspiciously convenient timing, the California governor's race implications, and what it tells us about Washington's open secrets and the total absence of accountability on the Hill. Plus &#8212; Trump's AI Jesus post, a DoorDash delivery to the Oval Office, and a passionate defense of McDonald's Diet Coke. Tucker Carlson's anti-American rhetoric gets called out, Ruben Gallego gets put on notice, and the hosts wrap with a reminder that the media is, in fact, still trash. A full episode with zero filler.</p><p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Lindsey K&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:214306212,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@truzkl&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2373e10f-9349-49ea-a496-8e05675a81e0_747x565.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;76f80866-aa61-47c4-ae81-1ab4e581493c&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Elizabeth&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:56427819,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@elizabethawg515&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;5732efa7-88c7-45ae-ab0b-c7eb87a6df87&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Becky Dultmeier&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:35795342,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@beckydultmeier&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;a365c6d8-797e-427c-bc3e-9ef6b3495dd9&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><h2>Episode Highlights</h2><ul><li><p><strong>Iran Negotiations &amp; the Strait of Hormuz:</strong> JD Vance&#8217;s 21-hour talks in Islamabad produced no deal &#8212; but the U.S. counter-blockade strategy and mine-sweeping operations signal a more complex play than the media is letting on</p></li><li><p><strong>Eric Swalwell Scandal:</strong> Four women, serious allegations including rape, a Manhattan DA investigation, and an entire media apparatus that knew for years and said nothing &#8212; the hosts trace the story from a TikTok creator to the San Francisco Chronicle</p></li><li><p><strong>The California Governor&#8217;s Race Connection:</strong> Why the timing of this story isn&#8217;t a coincidence &#8212; Democrats may have weaponized the Swalwell scandal to clear the field before Republicans take both top primary spots</p></li><li><p><strong>Trump&#8217;s AI Jesus Post:</strong> Both hosts push back hard &#8212; theologically and politically &#8212; on the viral image and the sycophantic defenses that followed</p></li><li><p><strong>Tucker Carlson&#8217;s Anti-American Rhetoric:</strong> Why his &#8220;both ways&#8221; commentary on the Iran standoff reads as actively rooting against the United States &#8212; and what motivates it</p></li></ul><h3><strong>Follow Us On Youtube!</strong></h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet? Join us LIVE Tuesday &amp; Thursday at 12:30 pm, get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p><strong>Subscribed</strong></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4351,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:154,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2026-04-09T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><h2><strong>Chapters</strong></h2><p><strong>0:00</strong> Cold Open &amp; Technical Difficulties </p><p><strong>2:00</strong> Iran Recap: Islamabad Talks &amp; The Partial Blockade </p><p><strong>8:30</strong> Tucker Carlson&#8217;s Iran Commentary &#8212; Anti-American or Just Disingenuous? </p><p><strong>19:30</strong> Eric Swalwell: The Allegations &amp; The Timeline </p><p><strong>28:00</strong> The TikTok Creator Who Broke It First </p><p><strong>36:00</strong> The Media Knew &#8212; And Said Nothing </p><p><strong>44:30</strong> California Governor&#8217;s Race &amp; The Takedown Theory </p><p><strong>53:00</strong> Swalwell Resigns, Tony Gonzalez, &amp; The Hill&#8217;s Accountability Problem </p><p><strong>1:02:45</strong> Trump&#8217;s AI Jesus Post &#8212; A Theological Objection </p><p><strong>1:13:00</strong> DoorDash to the Oval Office &amp; No Tax on Tips </p><p><strong>1:17:00</strong> McDonald&#8217;s Deep Cuts &amp; Wrap-Up</p><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 222 | Iran Ceasefire Chaos: Conflicting Plans, Missing Info & What's Really Happening]]></title><description><![CDATA[The ceasefire has an asterisk, the media has an agenda, and the administration isn't telling us nearly enough.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-222-iran-ceasefire-chaos-conflicting</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-222-iran-ceasefire-chaos-conflicting</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:53:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/193720120/e46cbf9a760cfddc0bad193fa14ddcec.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The ceasefire with Iran has a very big asterisk on it&#8212;and the media isn't helping anyone figure out what's actually in it. This week, Meseidy and Rachel break down the chaotic reporting surrounding the Iran negotiations: conflicting 10-point plans, a White House pushing back on its own president's statements, a mysteriously revived Ayatollah, and China quietly pulling strings behind the curtain. They also get into NATO's stunning refusal to open airspace during the conflict, why European allies are playing a dangerous game of ingratitude, and what the political consequences could look like heading into the midterms. Plus: the podcast class revolt, Lawrence O'Donnell's latest brain melt, summer grilling recommendations, and a cat who brought home a snake. It's the episode that covers everything&#8212;because everything is happening at once.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=c1f6b774&amp;utm_content=193484413&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Get 30% off for 1 year&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=c1f6b774&amp;utm_content=193484413"><span>Get 30% off for 1 year</span></a></p><p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Lindsey K&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:214306212,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@truzkl&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2373e10f-9349-49ea-a496-8e05675a81e0_747x565.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;abc11c1c-161d-40ce-9d2d-9a4799deb217&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Rachael McBee&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:86718228,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@rachaelmcbee2&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/dc728a51-d529-4faf-b353-fb47051630a0_513x768.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;2ffa2f69-51d8-4008-b7e5-88614108b750&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Elisa Planty&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:72865996,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@elisaplanty&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/1b8b5632-204b-4eb0-b460-e0377a15cf5f_1167x1062.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;660bb090-d9ef-4df9-b90e-fb61e56a8474&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Kate&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:116937975,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@kate456550&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/be32fd62-f004-4c83-8e70-ad84c34ed818_400x342.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;8d33ff1a-4344-4930-a014-7bbe1f48fac1&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Elizabeth&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:56427819,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@elizabethawg515&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;96ae5905-2545-4b30-bb7d-9c4bad6ce688&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><h2><strong>EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS</strong></h2><ul><li><p><strong>The Ceasefire Asterisk</strong> &#8212; Why this pause isn&#8217;t a deal, what&#8217;s actually being negotiated, and why Iran&#8217;s track record gives zero reason for optimism</p></li><li><p><strong>Media Malpractice on the 10-Point Plan</strong> &#8212; How legacy outlets (and even Fox) ran with Iranian state media talking points as fact&#8212;and the administration&#8217;s pushback</p></li><li><p><strong>China&#8217;s Hidden Hand</strong> &#8212; Evidence suggests it was Beijing, not the Ayatollah, driving the ceasefire&#8212;and what that means for the deal&#8217;s durability</p></li><li><p><strong>NATO on the Naughty List</strong> &#8212; European allies refused airspace access despite decades of US investment; Trump&#8217;s now moving troops and setting deadlines</p></li><li><p><strong>The Podcast Class Revolt</strong> &#8212; Tucker, MTG, Rogan, and others publicly breaking with Trump, and why the independent media ecosystem is fracturing under pressure</p></li><li><p><strong>The Lawrence O&#8217;Donnell Moment</strong> &#8212; A full monologue about the word &#8220;man.&#8221; We are not joking.</p></li></ul><h3><strong>Follow Us On Youtube!</strong></h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet? Join us LIVE Tuesday &amp; Thursday at 12:30 pm, get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p><strong>Subscribed</strong></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><p></p><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4355,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:152,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2026-04-02T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2><strong>Chapters</strong></h2><p><strong>0:00</strong> Cold Open &amp; Show Intro </p><p><strong>3:15</strong> What Actually Happened: The Iran Ceasefire Timeline </p><p><strong>7:00</strong> The 10-Point Plan, Iranian State Media &amp; Media Malpractice </p><p><strong>13:00</strong> Should You Share Iranian Propaganda? The Information Vacuum Problem </p><p><strong>20:00</strong> China's Hidden Role &amp; the Ayatollah's Convenient Revival </p><p><strong>28:00</strong> Trump's Truth Social Post: What It Actually Means </p><p><strong>33:00</strong> Iran's Wins, Losses &amp; the Uranium Question </p><p><strong>37:00</strong> The Podcast Class Revolt &amp; Political Consequences </p><p><strong>46:00</strong> NATO Fallout: Airspace Denied, Troops May Move </p><p><strong>54:00</strong> Bloomberg Report: Trump Sets European Deadline </p><p><strong>1:00:00</strong> Lawrence O'Donnell's Monologue (You Have to See It) </p><p><strong>1:04:00</strong> Listener Q&amp;A: Summer Grilling + Crock Pot Tips </p><p><strong>1:10:00</strong> Cats, Snakes, Mice &amp; Bats: The Full Ecosystem Report</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 221 | Trump's 8PM Ultimatum: End an Entire Civilization or Deal? ]]></title><description><![CDATA[From an Easter miracle rescue to an apocalyptic deadline &#8212; the world changed in 48 hours and no one in the media explained it straight.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-221-trumps-8pm-ultimatum-end-an</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-221-trumps-8pm-ultimatum-end-an</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:23:56 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/193484413/f4952b6619efd53c1c084a3e9e0675be.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Trump issued a civilization-ending ultimatum. An airman hiked 7,000 feet through enemy territory. And Hegseth compared it all to Easter Sunday. This is the episode.</p><p>Meseidy and Rachel break down the wildest 48 hours in recent memory &#8212; from the Good Friday jet shootdown over Iran to the Easter Sunday rescue mission that reads like a movie script, to Trump&#8217;s apocalyptic True Social post threatening to &#8220;end a civilization&#8221; by 8 p.m. Tuesday. They take apart Hegseth&#8217;s resurrection parallel (theologically uncomfortable, whatever your politics), Rubio&#8217;s green card revocation for Soleimani&#8217;s niece, the Georgia special election as a midterm bellwether, and close on the Orion crew&#8217;s moving moon crater moment.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=c1f6b774&amp;utm_content=193484413&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Get 30% off for 1 year&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=c1f6b774&amp;utm_content=193484413"><span>Get 30% off for 1 year</span></a></p><p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Elizabeth&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:56427819,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@elizabethawg515&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;638cb43a-98bc-4ff3-a7bc-31d34eea89e3&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Becky Dultmeier&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:35795342,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@beckydultmeier&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;f9f2315a-cc24-47f6-966e-aef87fa31f5f&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><h2><strong>EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS</strong></h2><ul><li><p><strong>Easter Sunday Rescue:</strong> A downed US airman hiked 7,000 feet through enemy territory in Iran with only a sidearm &#8212; and was rescued on Easter Sunday in a military operation straight out of Hollywood</p></li><li><p><strong>Trump&#8217;s Civilization Ultimatum:</strong> The president threatened to end Iranian civilization by 8 p.m. Tuesday &#8212; Meseidy and Rachel debate whether it&#8217;s madman strategy or a massive gamble with no clean off-ramp</p></li><li><p><strong>Hegseth&#8217;s Resurrection Comparison:</strong> The Defense Secretary drew parallels between the airman&#8217;s rescue and the resurrection of Christ &#8212; the hosts push back on the theology while crediting his operational competence</p></li><li><p><strong>Soleimani&#8217;s Niece Deported:</strong> Rubio revoked the green cards of Soleimani&#8217;s niece and her daughter &#8212; living lavishly in California, calling America &#8220;the great Satan,&#8221; and making asylum claims while traveling back to Iran</p></li><li><p><strong>Artemis/Orion Moon Mission:</strong> The Orion commander named a lunar crater after his late wife in a genuinely moving moment &#8212; a reminder that there are still things worth marveling at</p></li><li><p><strong>2026 Midterm Warning Signs:</strong> Republicans are up only 5 points nationally (vs. the historical 12&#8211;13 average) as influencers from Alex Jones to Tucker Carlson signal cracks in the MAGA coalition</p></li></ul><h3><strong>Follow Us On Youtube!</strong></h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet? Join us LIVE Tuesday &amp; Thursday at 12:30 pm, get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p><strong>Subscribed</strong></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><p></p><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4355,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:152,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2026-04-02T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2><strong>Chapters</strong></h2><p><strong>00:00</strong> Technical Difficulties and Live Streaming Challenges</p><p><strong>01:48</strong> Welcome Back: Post-Holiday Reflections</p><p><strong>03:33</strong> Easter Weekend: News and Personal Updates</p><p><strong>08:49</strong> Tracking the Rescue Mission: A Dramatic Turn of Events</p><p><strong>19:23</strong> Media Coverage and National Security Concerns</p><p><strong>23:40</strong> Theatrical Comparisons in Politics</p><p><strong>27:55</strong> Trump&#8217;s Easter Controversy</p><p><strong>31:56</strong> Escalating Tensions with Iran</p><p><strong>39:16</strong> The Madman Theory and Its Implications</p><p><strong>47:47</strong> Understanding the Stakes of Regime Change</p><p><strong>49:10</strong> The Controversy of Deportation and Free Speech</p><p><strong>52:12</strong> The Role of Citizenship and Asylum Claims</p><p><strong>55:06</strong> Midterm Elections: Polling Insights and Predictions</p><p><strong>59:49</strong> The Impact of Congressional Effectiveness on Voter Sentiment</p><p><strong>01:01:45</strong> Emotional Moments in Space Exploration</p><p><strong>01:12:36</strong> Wrap-Up and Future Discussions</p><p></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 220 | The Democrat Party's Radical Alignment Problem Is Now Impossible to Ignore]]></title><description><![CDATA[When a Michigan Democrat won't condemn a dead terrorist and Bernie Sanders is stumping for a man who said America deserved 9/11 &#8212; the left's radical drift isn't coming. It's here.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-220-the-democrat-partys-radical</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-220-the-democrat-partys-radical</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 02 Apr 2026 19:17:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/192765788/8e8f7fb0e1e1439035de6c4f3a5f2c01.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The FBI confirmed what we already knew about the Michigan synagogue attack &#8212; but the media conveniently buried the lead. Now meet Abdul El-Sayed: Michigan Democrat, Senate candidate, and a man so afraid of his Dearborn constituency he can&#8217;t even acknowledge the Ayatollah&#8217;s death. We&#8217;ve got the recordings.</p><p>Then there&#8217;s Hassan Piker &#8212; the millionaire socialist in Cartier glasses the Democrats are betting on to win back young voters. Spoiler: the party is fracturing over it. We break down the Dearborn imam clips, El-Sayed&#8217;s deleted 9/11 posts, and why Gavin Newsom and Bernie Sanders cozying up to this guy should concern everyone.</p><p>Plus: Trump&#8217;s Iran address, the birthright citizenship oral arguments, Pam Bondi gets fired, and the most over-the-top presidential library reveal you&#8217;ve ever seen.</p><p><em>Rivera &amp; Reeves &#8212; the media is trash and we have zero tolerance for it.</em></p><p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Kate&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:116937975,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@kate456550&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/be32fd62-f004-4c83-8e70-ad84c34ed818_400x342.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;67bca4f3-52e8-431b-9ab7-436fc7a66efa&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Trudi Laurence&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:103620904,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@tlaur&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/93f9a52e-2d68-478c-ac57-727abf6a4666_1287x1071.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;2ae3d07b-b769-4fea-9994-c8ee44cb30fd&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join us for my next live video in the app.</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><h2>EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS</h2><ul><li><p><strong>El-Sayed exposed:</strong> Audio recordings reveal a Michigan Democrat Senate candidate strategizing how to avoid condemning the Ayatollah&#8217;s death to protect his Dearborn Muslim voter base</p></li><li><p><strong>The Piker problem:</strong> Hassan Piker &#8212; who said America deserved 9/11, downplayed October 7th rapes, and called Orthodox Jews &#8220;inbred&#8221; &#8212; is now a featured campaign surrogate for major Democrat figures including Gavin Newsom and Bernie Sanders</p></li><li><p><strong>Iran address breakdown:</strong> Trump&#8217;s prime-time speech promised he won&#8217;t do &#8220;forever wars,&#8221; compared the Iran campaign to WWII and Korea by day count, and included White House reels with <em>Seinfeld</em> and <em>The Office</em> references &#8212; simultaneously</p></li><li><p><strong>Birthright citizenship at SCOTUS:</strong> The Solicitor General&#8217;s exchange with Justice Roberts on birth tourism is the clip everyone&#8217;s sharing &#8212; and it explains exactly why the 14th Amendment argument is messier than either side admits</p></li><li><p><strong>Pam Bondi fired:</strong> Breaking during the live stream &#8212; and the speculation about Tulsi Gabbard being next starts immediately</p></li></ul><h3><strong>Follow Us On Youtube!</strong></h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet? Join us LIVE Tuesday &amp; Thursday at 12:30 pm, get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4331,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:151,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2026-03-24T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><h2><strong>Chapters</strong></h2><p>00:00 Introduction to the Live Podcast Experience</p><p>04:41 Reflections on the President&#8217;s Address</p><p>09:42 Current Events and Political Updates</p><p>14:38 The Michigan Synagogue Attack and Its Implications</p><p>19:31 Abdul El-Sayed: A Political Controversy</p><p>24:25 The Radical Elements of Islam and Political Responses</p><p>28:38 Rhetoric and Political Correlations</p><p>29:48 False Equivalencies in Political Discourse</p><p>31:02 The Rise of Influential Political Commentators</p><p>32:07 Controversial Figures in Progressive Politics</p><p>34:11 The Disconnect of Progressive Elites</p><p>35:45 The Divide Within the Democratic Party</p><p>38:18 The Big Tent Approach to Politics</p><p>40:03 The Tension of Religion and Politics</p><p>47:23 Birthright Citizenship and Immigration Issues</p><p>50:06 The Consequences of Birthright Citizenship</p><p>53:17 Legislative Challenges and Birth Tourism</p><p>55:10 The Role of Legislation in Immigration Policy</p><p>57:39 Political Dynamics and Leadership Changes</p><p>01:00:27 Easter Traditions and Community Engagement</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[R&R UnFiltered LIVE! 03.28.26]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rachel went inside CPAC, saw the playbook being run in real time, and came back with receipts&#8212;here's what the conservative movement still refuses to admit about itself.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/r-and-r-unfiltered-live-032826</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/r-and-r-unfiltered-live-032826</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2026 16:35:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/192404837/2f2a53f128a967d578f209e7be42ab36.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Rachel just got back from CPAC&#8212;and what she saw behind the curtain is not the story you're being told. This month's Rivera &amp; Reeves Unfiltered Live covers it all: low turnout, a boomer-heavy crowd, and a speaker who explicitly told attendees to stop listening to podcasters&#8212;while standing in a room full of them. Plus: the grifter class running the right-wing podcast space, why the GOP's "unity" push is really just midterm survival mode, the tin foil hat theory about foreign bots amplifying divisive content creators (that isn't actually a theory), and the Iran truth no one in podcasting wants to say out loud. Unfiltered, direct, and pulling zero punches.</p><h2>Episode Highlights</h2><ul><li><p>Rachel attended CPAC and witnessed a speaker directly warn the audience to stop listening to podcasters and social media influencers&#8212;the same conference that invited content creators to carry their message</p></li><li><p>The &#8220;conservative unity&#8221; push at CPAC was less about principle and more about midterm survival: a scripted talking point delivered by multiple speakers, including Steve Bannon and Jack Posobiec</p></li><li><p>Tucker, Candace, and Megyn Kelly are playing a game&#8212;the hosts break down what that game is, who&#8217;s winning, and why their astronomical numbers may have foreign fingerprints</p></li><li><p>The Iran operation isn&#8217;t the betrayal the podcast right claims it is: Trump has talked about Iran as an existential threat for decades, and the hosts make the strategic case that this <em>is</em> America First</p></li><li><p>The CPAC crowd skewed heavily older&#8212;a sharp contrast from last year&#8217;s younger energy&#8212;and what that demographic collapse signals for the future of the movement</p></li></ul><p>Get 35% off an annual Rivera and Reeves Subscription until Monday!</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=b9dc374f&amp;utm_content=192404837&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Get 35% off for 1 year&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=b9dc374f&amp;utm_content=192404837"><span>Get 35% off for 1 year</span></a></p><p>Thank you <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Crystal&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:9237829,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@crystal974479&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/908faa8e-9e09-4241-97ae-4b6695602600_144x144.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;e08cfba5-8175-4035-9e32-4a1e1867fc11&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Sarah Twilley&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:21387472,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@vocevivace&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ea2c55ae-e060-452f-bb96-bec3b89d5f53_1060x1060.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;734d19bc-83bf-4c30-be65-1f4343f1936f&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Elizabeth&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:56427819,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://substack.com/@elizabethawg515&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:null,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;e69846e8-415e-4c18-9232-ecf29a29c7aa&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span>, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><h3>Chapters</h3><p>00:00 Introduction and Technical Glitches</p><p>02:59 Exploring CPAC Experience</p><p>06:01 Media Representation and Misrepresentation</p><p>09:03 The State of the Republican Party</p><p>12:07 Fractures Within the Coalition</p><p>14:59 Unity vs. Authenticity in Politics</p><p>18:00 The Role of Podcasters in Political Discourse</p><p>20:58 The Influence of Social Media on Politics</p><p>23:54 Conclusion and Final Thoughts</p><p>27:06 The Quest for Midterm Victory</p><p>30:06 Media Responsibility and Individual Agency</p><p>32:10 Understanding Political Processes</p><p>35:08 The State of the Republican Party</p><p>39:14 Coalitions and Political Identity</p><p>44:02 The Impact of Influential Voices</p><p>52:01 The Focus on Israel and Domestic Issues</p><p>53:34 Engagement and Audience Dynamics</p><p>56:06 The Impact of Foreign Influence on Media</p><p>01:00:15 Political Disillusionment and New Perspectives</p><p>01:03:31 The Complexity of Military Engagements</p><p>01:06:12 Cultural Reflections on Technology and Society</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 219 | They Caught Him Twice and Let Him Go Twice]]></title><description><![CDATA[The murder of Sheridan Gorman, the alderwoman's shameful response, and why Democrats are still fighting to protect the policies that made it possible.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-219-they-caught-him-twice-and</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-219-they-caught-him-twice-and</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 24 Mar 2026 19:10:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/192015845/bb7d9f83af6a9f70e9b75ae5afd432ed.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>TSA agents are 40 days into working without pay, an 18-year-old college student is dead at the hands of an illegal immigrant Chicago refused to deport, Iran is firing ballistic missiles at U.S. bases, and a Twitch streamer is glamping at a Cuban government hotel in the name of socialism. This week, Meseidy and Rachel break down the DHS/TSA shutdown &#8212; including the inconvenient truth Democrats don&#8217;t want you knowing about ICE funding &#8212; react to the murder of Sheridan Gorman and Chicago&#8217;s outrageous political response, deliver a full Operation Epic Fury update (Khomeini, Diego Garcia, Trump&#8217;s 48-hour ultimatum), and roast Code Pink&#8217;s Fire Festival 2.0 in Havana. Also: the &#8220;Iran isn&#8217;t a threat&#8221; crowd has gone suspiciously quiet.</p><p>New here? Hit follow. Full episodes on Substack first, YouTube the next day.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3><strong>Episode Highlights</strong></h3><ul><li><p><strong>TSA in freefall:</strong> 3,200 agents called out in a single day, 400 have quit, and airports are looking at 2-3 hour security lines &#8212; all because Democrats are posturing over an agency that&#8217;s already funded through 2030</p></li><li><p><strong>Sheridan Gorman:</strong> An 18-year-old Loyola freshman was shot dead near Lake Michigan by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant who was caught twice and released twice &#8212; while Chicago&#8217;s mayor won&#8217;t say her name and an alderwoman calls it &#8220;wrong place, wrong time&#8221;</p></li><li><p><strong>Operation Epic Fury update:</strong> Khomeini confirmed dead, Strait of Hormuz effectively shut down, oil hitting $120, and Iran fired intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia &#8212; the same missiles their foreign minister swore couldn&#8217;t reach it</p></li><li><p><strong>Trump&#8217;s 48-hour ultimatum and the 5-day pause:</strong> what the Turkey/Pakistan back-channel negotiations actually look like, why Israel isn&#8217;t thrilled, and why the legacy media is still deferring to Iranian denials</p></li><li><p><strong>Code Pink&#8217;s Cuban vacation:</strong> activists stay at a government-funded five-star hotel with power diverted from local residents, Hassan Piker streams on premium internet while locals go dark, and nobody asks why &#8220;humanitarian aid&#8221; required a tour bus and a concert</p></li></ul><h3>Follow Us On Youtube!</h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet?  You&#8217;ll get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4617,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:114,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2025-09-16T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2>Chapters</h2><p>00:00 - Introduction and Upcoming Events</p><p>02:01 - The Impact of AI Data Centers on Communities</p><p>05:59 - Current Events: TSA and DHS Funding Crisis</p><p>13:49 - Political Dynamics Surrounding DHS Funding</p><p>21:38 - The Consequences of Sanctuary City Policies</p><p>29:30 - The Tragic Case of Sheridan Gorman</p><p>37:39 - National Security and Homeland Security Challenges</p><p>40:15 - Operation Epic Fury: A New Conflict Unfolds</p><p>42:45 - Iran&#8217;s Military Capabilities and Global Implications</p><p>48:24 - The Narrative Shift: Iran&#8217;s Threat Perception</p><p>51:38 - Negotiations and Backchannel Talks: A Complex Landscape</p><p>56:51 - Cuba&#8217;s Struggles: A Misguided Humanitarian Effort</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 218 | The Left's "Moderate" Wants to Abolish ICE]]></title><description><![CDATA[The left's "moderate" is abolishing ICE, their hero is under investigation, and Gavin Newsom's wife has opinions &#8212; we have questions.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-218-the-lefts-moderate-wants-to</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-218-the-lefts-moderate-wants-to</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2026 19:07:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/191504590/15d96b839794f27bbacd74ed4380ffa6.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The news cycle is officially broken &#8212; and we&#8217;re here for it.</p><p>This week, Meseidy and Rachel unpack the FBI investigation into Joe Kent, the former DNI chief of staff who resigned shortly after Tucker Carlson claimed he was being investigated by the CIA. Are these stories connected? The timing is hard to ignore.</p><p>Then it&#8217;s back to campaign fundamentals: the Illinois primaries just handed a Senate nomination to a candidate backed by $14 million in PAC money who openly advocates abolishing ICE &#8212; and she&#8217;s being called the <em>moderate</em> pick. Meanwhile, squad-aligned candidates went 0-6, Virginia just elected its first Republican in a key county in 40 years, and Republicans are somehow still missing the message.</p><p>We also dig into the New York Times&#8217; bombshell investigation into C&#233;sar Ch&#225;vez &#8212; decades of sexual abuse allegations, a disturbing cult connection to Synanon, and a left that&#8217;s suddenly very eager to burn one of their biggest icons. Convenient timing? We think so.</p><p>And to close it out: Jennifer Siebel Newsom spoke. Rachel reacted. You&#8217;ll want to see it.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3><strong>Episode Highlights</strong></h3><ul><li><p><strong>Joe Kent is under FBI investigation</strong> &#8212; and the timing of his Tucker appearance may not be a coincidence</p></li><li><p><strong>llinois Democrats crowned an &#8220;abolish ICE&#8221;</strong> candidate as their &#8220;moderate&#8221; Senate nominee</p></li><li><p><strong>Squad candidates went 0-6 in Illinois primaries</strong> &#8212; but Republicans are missing the moment</p></li><li><p><strong>The NYT&#8217;s C&#233;sar Ch&#225;vez expos&#233;:</strong> decades of alleged abuse, a cult connection, and very convenient timing</p></li><li><p><strong>Jennifer Siebel Newsom delivers a masterclass in saying absolutely nothing</strong> &#8212; and Rachel is not having it</p></li></ul><h3>Follow Us On Youtube!</h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet?  You&#8217;ll get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4617,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:114,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2025-09-16T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2>Chapters</h2><p>00:00 &#8211; The News Cycle Is Unhinged (Intro) </p><p>01:15 &#8211; Show Announcements &amp; Subscriber Perks </p><p>05:46 &#8211; Joe Kent: FBI Investigation &amp; Tucker Carlson Theories </p><p>15:13 &#8211; Illinois Primaries: The "Moderate" Democrat Playbook </p><p>22:27 &#8211; Squad Goes 0-6 &amp; Republican Missed Opportunities </p><p>29:04 &#8211; Virginia Special Election: Signs of a Shift </p><p>31:34 &#8211; The 2028 Democrat Field: Pritzker, Newsom &amp; Dark Horses </p><p>44:34 &#8211; The C&#233;sar Ch&#225;vez Bombshell: NYT's Major Investigation </p><p>50:52 &#8211; Synanon, Cult Tactics &amp; Why the Women Were Silent </p><p>55:45 &#8211; Democrats and Their Fallen Idols: A Pattern </p><p>1:03:05 &#8211; Jennifer Siebel Newsom's "First Partner" Moment </p><p>1:08:35 &#8211; Wrap Up</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 217 | Tucker's CIA Claim, Joe Kent Quits & Why the Media Is Rooting Against America]]></title><description><![CDATA[Tucker's playing the victim again, Joe Kent just handed the left a soundbite, and the media is actively rooting against the United States &#8212; they just won't say it out loud.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-218-tuckers-cia-claim-joe-kent</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-218-tuckers-cia-claim-joe-kent</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2026 19:51:21 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/191291451/991e101b-cb21-4f5b-ba96-63721c6b1a39/transcoded-1773789114.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Tucker Carlson says the CIA is building a criminal case against him. Joe Kent just resigned from the DNI&#8217;s counterterrorism office with a letter that contradicts itself. And legacy media &#8212; the same outlets that cheerleaded the Iraq war without a single tough question &#8212; are now going wall-to-wall negative on Iran. Coincidence?</p><p>Meseidy and Rachel break down Tucker&#8217;s pattern of CIA and NSA victim claims, Joe Kent&#8217;s scathing resignation letter (and his very different statements from just two years ago), how the media is rooting against America because they&#8217;re rooting against Trump, and Joy Reid&#8217;s take that the U.S. is only &#8220;marginally better&#8221; than Iran. Plus: Cuba&#8217;s electrical grid has completely collapsed, Iranian women soccer players are being threatened back home, and it&#8217;s St. Patrick&#8217;s Day. Real talk, no filter.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3><strong>Episode Highlights</strong></h3><ul><li><p>Tucker Carlson claims the CIA is preparing a criminal referral against him &#8212; but his own track record of identical victimhood claims (including against the NSA in 2021) makes the story hard to take at face value</p></li><li><p>Joe Kent resigned as Director of Counterterrorism citing conscience objections to the Iran war &#8212; except his own resignation letter applauds the same Trump foreign policy he now opposes, and clips from two years ago show him making the case for exactly this kind of action</p></li><li><p>Legacy media covered the Iraq WMD narrative without skepticism in 2003; today those same outlets are running six pages of relentlessly negative Iran headlines while ignoring every military success &#8212; and Meseidy and Rachel ask the obvious question: which is the real bias?</p></li><li><p>Cuba&#8217;s entire electrical grid collapsed, leaving 11 million people without power after Venezuela and Iran cut oil supplies &#8212; and protests are already breaking out</p></li><li><p>Iranian women soccer players who sought asylum in Australia are being coerced into returning by threats against their families back home &#8212; and the regime has a documented history of executing athletes who embarrass it</p></li><li><p>Joy Reid compared the United States to Iran on live television and called it &#8220;marginally better&#8221; &#8212; Rachel had thoughts</p></li></ul><h3>Follow Us On Youtube!</h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet?  You&#8217;ll get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4617,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:114,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2025-09-16T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2>Chapters</h2><p><strong>00:00 </strong>Introduction to CPAC and Personal Updates</p><p><strong>02:42 </strong>Current Events: Iran and Media Coverage</p><p><strong>05:36 </strong>Tucker Carlson&#8217;s Controversial Claims</p><p><strong>11:38 </strong>Cuba&#8217;s Crisis and International Relations</p><p><strong>17:38 </strong>Tucker Carlson: A Deeper Analysis</p><p><strong>23:35 </strong>Conclusion and Reflections on Media Dynamics</p><p><strong>23:56 </strong>The Role of High-Profile Journalists</p><p><strong>26:50 </strong>Self-Deprecation and Privilege in Media</p><p><strong>29:39 </strong>Rhetoric and the Rise of the Anti-Administration Right</p><p><strong>32:14 </strong>Joe Kent&#8217;s Resignation and Its Implications</p><p><strong>36:04 </strong>Contradictions in Joe Kent&#8217;s Statements</p><p><strong>39:00 </strong>The Legacy Media&#8217;s Reporting on Iran</p><p><strong>51:36 </strong>Negative Framing in Legacy Media Coverage</p><p><strong>52:28 </strong>Iran&#8217;s Leadership Crisis and U.S. Response</p><p><strong>54:54 </strong>Political Narratives and U.S. Foreign Policy</p><p><strong>59:38 </strong>Media&#8217;s Role in War Narratives</p><p><strong>01:01:54 </strong>Emotional Arguments in Political Discourse</p><p><strong>01:03:27 </strong>Iranian Women&#8217;s Soccer Team and Asylum Issues</p><p><strong>01:09:42 </strong>Cultural Reflections: Movies and Current Events</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Well, This Week Happened To Us - No episode today 🫠]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rachel lost power (and possibly a freezer full of meat &#129385;), and I tweaked my back. We are so cool.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/well-this-week-happened-to-us-no</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/well-this-week-happened-to-us-no</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 12 Mar 2026 13:31:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1525847664954-bcd1e64c6ad8?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyMHx8c29ycnl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzczMzIyMTkwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1525847664954-bcd1e64c6ad8?crop=entropy&amp;cs=tinysrgb&amp;fit=max&amp;fm=jpg&amp;ixid=M3wzMDAzMzh8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwyMHx8c29ycnl8ZW58MHx8fHwxNzczMzIyMTkwfDA&amp;ixlib=rb-4.1.0&amp;q=80&amp;w=1080" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div 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<em>muy</em> on-brand for us.</p><p>Let&#8217;s start with Rachel. Her power went out yesterday. Which, fine, inconvenient &#8212; but it has triggered a full chain reaction of chaos, including a deep freezer full of meat whose status is TBD. Praying for that lamb.</p><p>As for me? I flew too close to the DIYing sun and met my limit. I woke up this morning with a tweaked back so bad that sitting upright is... a challenge. I&#8217;m drafting this from whatever angle my spine will allow.</p><p>We are, truly, doing so well.</p><p><strong>But here&#8217;s the good news</strong> &#8212; we are not leaving you empty-handed.</p><p>I&#8217;ve unlocked an episode from the <em>UnFiltered</em> archives, and it&#8217;s a good one. This episode is exactly what the name promises: unfiltered. It&#8217;s a behind-the-scenes look at how Rachel and I actually run this operation &#8212; and spoiler, we have <em>very</em> different working styles. It&#8217;s chaotic, it&#8217;s honest, and I think you&#8217;re going to love it.</p><p>You can watch and listen to the <strong>full episode exclusively right here on Substack.</strong> &#128071;</p><div class="install-substack-app-embed install-substack-app-embed-web" data-component-name="InstallSubstackAppToDOM"><img class="install-substack-app-embed-img" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png"><div class="install-substack-app-embed-text"><div class="install-substack-app-header">Get more from Rivera and Reeves in the Substack app</div><div class="install-substack-app-text">Available for iOS and Android</div></div><a href="https://substack.com/app/app-store-redirect?utm_campaign=app-marketing&amp;utm_content=author-post-insert&amp;utm_source=riveraandreeves" target="_blank" class="install-substack-app-embed-link"><button class="install-substack-app-embed-btn button primary">Get the app</button></a></div><div class="digest-post-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;nodeId&quot;:&quot;90c39652-72d8-47ea-812d-01220c0be29e&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Ready to peek behind the curtain of how your favorite independent journalists actually gather the news? In this unfiltered episode, Meseidy and Rachel expose their wildly different approaches to news sourcing&#8212;and spoiler alert: one of them just discovered you can search your Twitter bookmarks (looking at you, Rachel).&quot;,&quot;cta&quot;:&quot;Watch now&quot;,&quot;showBylines&quot;:true,&quot;showDescription&quot;:true,&quot;showImage&quot;:true,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;lg&quot;,&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;UnFiltered 014 | Tech vs Analog: How We Gather News Without a Newsroom Budget&quot;,&quot;publishedBylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:50181995,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Meseidy&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Doing my best to make the news digestible and my thoughts coherent. Come for the commentary stay for the humor. &#127482;&#127480;&#10084;&#65039;&#127477;&#127479; Meseidy@itsmeseidy.com&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F31d8ee07-1865-4737-b25a-2306080d0556_400x400.jpeg&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false,&quot;bestseller_tier&quot;:100},{&quot;id&quot;:7308153,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Anglican, political commentator, armchair historian, culture critic, mother of four, and wife to my high school sweetheart. Writing from a small farm off a dirt road.&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Faa331b79-c1ad-488e-92fc-9c7af35be92f_720x960.jpeg&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false,&quot;bestseller_tier&quot;:1000}],&quot;post_date&quot;:&quot;2025-09-27T17:54:17.036Z&quot;,&quot;cover_image&quot;:&quot;https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/174703126/30c69049-fc8a-4363-b535-dfd10f8e38a8/transcoded-1758995602.png&quot;,&quot;cover_image_alt&quot;:null,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/unfiltered-014-tech-vs-analog-how&quot;,&quot;section_name&quot;:null,&quot;video_upload_id&quot;:&quot;30c69049-fc8a-4363-b535-dfd10f8e38a8&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:174703126,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;podcast&quot;,&quot;reaction_count&quot;:14,&quot;comment_count&quot;:13,&quot;publication_id&quot;:3387740,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!XoV2!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc573255b-735a-438e-a5b9-6d877829f228_1280x1280.png&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;youtube_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_links&quot;:null,&quot;feed_url&quot;:null}"></div><p></p><h3>Hey, Paying Subscribers &#8212; This One's For You &#128155;</h3><p>If you&#8217;re a current Rivera &amp; Reeves paying subscriber and you&#8217;ve been eyeing <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;It's Meseidy&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:515895,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;pub&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/itsmeseidy&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/783122ab-b791-4546-b365-1788e1b92b31_1080x1080.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;6d6b4012-113c-448d-a664-b28d71cdc6b3&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span> or <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Here are the Headlines&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:259219,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;pub&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/rachelreeves&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9a460026-1c03-41db-9e75-f94ecf41e8e2_500x500.png&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;3e009b6d-805b-4093-bba5-737fe350aaa4&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span> &#8212; we have an exclusive discount code just for you! </p><p>To keep this where it belongs &#8212; with the people who actually showed up for us &#8212; we&#8217;re verifying subscribers before sending the code out. All you have to do is reach out with the email address you use to log into Substack:</p><ul><li><p>&#128233; <strong>For Here are the Headlines</strong> <strong>Email Rachel:</strong> <a href="mailto:herearetheheadlines@gmail.com">herearetheheadlines@gmail.com</a> </p></li><li><p>&#128242; <strong>For It&#8217;s Meseidy</strong> <strong>DM Meseidy:</strong> on <a href="https://instagram.com/itsmeseidy">Instagram</a> or right here on Substack</p></li></ul><p>We&#8217;ll take care of the rest. This one&#8217;s not being advertised anywhere. You found it because you&#8217;re already here &#8212; and that&#8217;s kind of the whole point.</p><h3><strong>Want more of this chaos?</strong></h3><p><em>UnFiltered</em> is a subscriber-only experience. We go live on the <strong>last Saturday of every month at 11 AM EST</strong> &#8212; and it is never boring.</p><p>For the next 24 hours, you can join us for <strong>35% off an annual subscription.</strong> That&#8217;s it. That&#8217;s the deal. Don&#8217;t sleep on it (unlike me, who is currently very much horizontal).</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/b9dc374f&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Get 35% Off &#8212; 24 Hours Only&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/b9dc374f"><span>Get 35% Off &#8212; 24 Hours Only</span></a></p><p><em>Thanks for being here, even when we are barely here ourselves. We&#8217;ll be back next week &#8212; back intact, power restored, freezer mourned.</em></p><p>&#8212; Meseidy (&amp; Rachel, who is currently managing a freezer crisis)</p><p>P.S. She is lucky I am such a good friend because the picture she shared this morning of herself is *<em>chef&#8217;s kiss</em>*</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 216 | They Tried to Bomb NYC & the Media Wrote Them a Love Letter ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Two men tried to bomb New York City, the mayor shrugged, the media covered for them &#8212; and we're the only ones calling it what it is.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-216-they-tried-to-bomb-nyc-and</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-216-they-tried-to-bomb-nyc-and</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 10 Mar 2026 19:17:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/190542143/274e603ba3bef6f371cb8929de47d80c.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Two Pennsylvania teenagers yelled &#8220;Allahu Akbar&#8221; and threw a homemade TATP bomb into a crowd in New York City &#8212; and the media called it a &#8220;normal day gone wrong.&#8221; We&#8217;re not doing that. This week, Mercedes and Rachel break down the NYC bombing attempt, Mayor Zoram Mamdani&#8217;s stunning non-response, and the media&#8217;s shameless cover for what&#8217;s clearly ISIS-inspired terrorism. Then: the Iran operation&#8217;s messaging crisis, the Tomahawk missile question Trump fumbled, and the Iranian women&#8217;s soccer team members who risked everything to defect in Australia. Plus &#8212; Tucker Carlson&#8217;s latest nihilistic spiral, why his rhetoric is drifting somewhere deeply cynical, and what a Republican fundraiser just revealed about 2028. Buckle up. The media is trash, and we have zero tolerance for it.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3><strong>Episode Highlights</strong></h3><ul><li><p>Two teenagers attempted a Boston Marathon-style bombing outside the NYC mayor&#8217;s home &#8212; and one said he wanted a bigger body count. The media ran a sympathetic profile and then deleted it.</p></li><li><p>Mayor Zoram Mamdani opened his press conference talking about Jake Lang and white supremacy &#8212; barely mentioning the actual ISIS-sympathizing bombers in his own city.</p></li><li><p>Trump called the Iran conflict &#8220;an excursion&#8221; and appeared not to know Tomahawk missiles aren&#8217;t a generic term &#8212; raising serious questions about the girls school bombing.</p></li><li><p>Tucker Carlson&#8217;s rhetoric has officially drifted into nihilism territory &#8212; repeatedly invoking rape and pillaging as the inevitable outcome of U.S. military action, prompting a sharp breakdown from Mercedes and Rachel.</p></li><li><p>Seven members of the Iranian women&#8217;s soccer team were granted asylum in Australia after refusing to sing the national anthem &#8212; and risking death for it.</p></li><li><p>At a Republican fundraiser, the crowd reportedly went nearly unanimous for Rubio over Vance when Trump asked who should run in 2028.</p></li></ul><h3>Follow Us On Youtube!</h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet?  You&#8217;ll get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4617,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:114,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2025-09-16T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2>Chapters</h2><p><strong>00:00</strong> Welcome back &#8212; office chaos &amp; Diet Coke discourse</p><p><strong>05:46</strong> Today&#8217;s topics: Iran, NYC bombing, media bias</p><p><strong>06:17</strong> Six months since Charlie Kirk&#8217;s assassination</p><p><strong>07:15</strong> Conservative coalition fracture: Tucker, Candace &amp; Megyn vs MAGA?</p><p><strong>14:20</strong> Iran: Trump&#8217;s &#8220;excursion&#8221; &amp; messaging chaos</p><p><strong>18:08</strong> Girls school bombing &#8212; unanswered questions</p><p><strong>26:44</strong> Iranian women&#8217;s soccer team defection story</p><p><strong>30:08</strong> Tucker&#8217;s unconditional surrender take</p><p><strong>44:06</strong> NYC ISIS bombing attempt with TATP</p><p><strong>47:31</strong> CNN deleted sympathetic bomber profile</p><p><strong>57:19</strong> Mayor Mamdani: ignores bombers, defends wife</p><p><strong>1:01:26</strong> NYT reporter&#8217;s double standard on politicians&#8217; wives</p><p><strong>1:07:07</strong> Free Press reporter canceled from CNN</p><p><strong>1:08:28</strong> 2028 straw poll: Rubio over Vance</p><p><strong>1:14:46</strong> This Day in History: Bell&#8217;s first phone call</p><p><strong>1:19:56</strong> Outro</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 215 | The Democrat's Fake Pastor, Tucker's Holy War & the Saddest Burger Bite in History]]></title><description><![CDATA[They both cherry-pick scripture &#8212; one to win Texas, one to protect Hamas &#8212; and the media only has a problem with one of them.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-215-the-democrats-fake-pastor</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-215-the-democrats-fake-pastor</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 21:00:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/190038316/d9fd587e3458f3f4730b194f40131b10.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Texas just handed Democrats a weapon and they're already using it. James Telerico won the Texas Senate Democrat primary, and the media is rebranding this progressive seminarian as a "moderate Christian" &#8212; spoiler: he's neither. We break down his scripture cherry-picking, play the clip of a progressive pastor getting absolutely schooled by a congressman on the Bible she claims to represent, and then turn our attention to Tucker Carlson's increasingly unhinged holy war against Israel &#8212; including his claims about the IDF, Chabad, and the third temple. Plus: what the Cornyn-Paxton Senate runoff actually means, why Trump may endorse the "establishment" pick, and the McDonald's CEO who accidentally started a fast food beef by taking the saddest bite of a burger in recorded history.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3><strong>Episode Highlights</strong></h3><ul><li><p><strong>Texas Runoff Drama:</strong> Crenshaw is out, Cornyn and Paxton head to a May 26th runoff &#8212; and Trump&#8217;s endorsement may hinge on the SAVE Act filibuster deal</p></li><li><p><strong>Telerico&#8217;s Fake Christianity:</strong> The media&#8217;s new &#8220;moderate&#8221; Democrat winner reinterprets the Annunciation as a consent negotiation and calls God non-binary &#8212; we go to the actual text</p></li><li><p><strong>Pastor vs. Congress:</strong> A progressive &#8220;pastor&#8221; cited Matthew 25 in her opening statement to a congressional hearing and couldn&#8217;t identify the Parable of the Talents when questioned &#8212; the full exchange is something else</p></li><li><p><strong>Tucker&#8217;s Holy War:</strong> Tucker Carlson frames the entire Iran conflict as a Chabad-orchestrated plot to rebuild the Third Temple &#8212; we investigate what Chabad actually is and why the comparison to how he treats Hamas is glaring</p></li><li><p><strong>McDonald&#8217;s CEO Breaks the Internet:</strong> One tiny, sad, possibly bun-only bite launched a full fast food CEO troll war &#8212; and Wendy&#8217;s just posted the best fake job listing of 2025</p></li></ul><h3>Follow Us On Youtube!</h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet?  You&#8217;ll get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4617,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:114,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2025-09-16T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2>Chapters</h2><p><strong>00:00</strong> Welcome &amp; Meseidy&#8217;s One-Screen Crisis</p><p><strong>04:00</strong> Texas Primaries: Crenshaw Out, Cornyn vs. Paxton Runoff</p><p><strong>10:37</strong> Telerico Wins &#8212; And the Media Is Already in Love</p><p><strong>18:43</strong> Rewriting the Annunciation: Telerico&#8217;s Scripture Problem</p><p><strong>30:30</strong> Progressive Pastor Gets Schooled by Congress </p><p><strong>42:27</strong> Tucker Carlson&#8217;s Holy War: IDF Patches, Chabad &amp; the Third Temple</p><p><strong>1:02:49</strong> How Right Wing Media Lost the Plot </p><p><strong>1:11:32</strong> The McDonald&#8217;s CEO Bite Heard &#8216;Round the World</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 214 | Operation Epic Fury: What the Media Is Getting Wrong About Iran]]></title><description><![CDATA[Unpacking the Operation Epic Fury, the messaging failures, and why Megyn Kelly declaring this "Israel's war" on day one isn't journalism&#8212;it's a take.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-214-operation-epic-fury-what-the</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-214-operation-epic-fury-what-the</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2026 21:10:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/189806899/c991e75f737d1ccfe04036689e508481.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Four days into Operation Epic Fury, and the takes are already outpacing the facts. We brought in our foreign policy nerd Amanda Peterson to sit down with Rachel and Meseidy and actually work through what's happening&#8212;the US-Israel coordination, the nuclear calculus, what "regime change" realistically means, and whether the administration's messaging is doing them any favors. This is the conversation the podcaster circuit doesn't want to have, because it requires more than 24 hours of thought.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3>Follow Amanda</h3><ul><li><p><a href="https://instagram.com/amandatalksgeopolitics">Instagram</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://x.com/amandatalks__">X </a></p></li><li><p>Substack <span class="mention-wrap" data-attrs="{&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Amanda Peterson&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:153200288,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;user&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:null,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/de43ff92-37c1-485d-af05-bff7083f017c_1179x1179.jpeg&quot;,&quot;uuid&quot;:&quot;feb04720-8e29-40d0-b0a4-97692b01a5ab&quot;}" data-component-name="MentionToDOM"></span> </p></li></ul><h3><strong>Episode Highlights</strong></h3><ul><li><p>The wrong question everyone keeps asking about Iran&#8217;s nuclear program&#8212;and what you should actually be asking</p></li><li><p>Why the US-Israel military coordination in this operation is unlike anything we&#8217;ve seen since World War II</p></li><li><p>Gulf States and even the Palestinian Authority have condemned Iran&#8217;s actions&#8212;here&#8217;s why that matters</p></li><li><p>Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson are saying the exact same thing. Word for word. That&#8217;s the problem.</p></li><li><p>The Rubio Gang of Eight clip everyone clipped out of context&#8212;we play the full 13 minutes</p></li><li><p>What a &#8220;Delcey Rodriguez scenario&#8221; looks like vs. actual regime change&#8212;and which is more likely</p></li><li><p>Iranian women are doing the Trump dance in the streets and the American left has no idea what to do with that</p></li></ul><h3>Follow Us On Youtube!</h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><p>Hit play, grab your coffee, and catch up on what&#8217;s actually happening. If this episode earns a share, send it to someone who&#8217;s been repeating the same three talking points since Saturday. They need this more than they know.</p><p><strong>Not a paid subscriber yet?  You&#8217;ll get ad-free access the moment we publish, plus our monthly live unfiltered stream every last Saturday at 11:30 AM EST.</strong></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4617,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:114,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2025-09-16T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2>Chapters</h2><p><strong>00:00</strong> - Intro: Trump Said "We're Ahead of Schedule" </p><p><strong>03:15</strong> - Setting the Scene: Operation Epic Fury &amp; Rising Lion </p><p><strong>12:50</strong> - How Trump Made the Call in Corpus Christi </p><p><strong>16:00</strong> - Why "Were They Close to a Nuke?" Is the Wrong Question </p><p><strong>23:00</strong> - US-Israel Coordination: Not Seen Since World War II </p><p><strong>28:30</strong> - Megyn Kelly &amp; Tucker Are Saying the Same Thing. That's the Problem. </p><p><strong>34:35</strong> - Gulf States and the Palestinian Authority Condemn Iran </p><p><strong>40:00</strong> - The Rubio Clip &#8212; In Full </p><p><strong>48:00</strong> - Nuclear Proliferation: Are We Entering a New Era? </p><p><strong>54:00</strong> - Democrats vs. Republicans: Who's Playing Politics? 59:00 - Congress, War Powers &amp; Nancy Pelosi's Greatest Hits </p><p><strong>1:05:00</strong> - Over/Under: How Does This End? </p><p><strong>1:13:00</strong> - Iranian Women Are Doing the Trump Dance. The Left Is Melting. </p><p><strong>1:20:00</strong> - Wrap Up + Follow Amanda Peterson</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[R&R UnFiltered Live | 2-28-26]]></title><description><![CDATA[The US struck Iran overnight, Tucker called it "evil," and the internet had all the answers &#8212; let's talk about it]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/r-and-r-unfiltered-live</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/r-and-r-unfiltered-live</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:39:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substack-video.s3.amazonaws.com/video_upload/post/189471231/659027c8-e66c-4c48-bef0-c3e7478023d8/transcoded-168352.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>&#128274; This Episode is for Paying Subscribers Only</strong></p><p>Unfiltered Live is our exclusive monthly hangout where we go off-script, take your questions, and talk about the stories we didn&#8217;t get to cover during the week. It happens the <strong>last Saturday of every month at 11:30 AM EST</strong>&#8212;live, unedited, and subscriber-only.</p><p>If you&#8217;re on a free subscription, you&#8217;re missing out on this one. <strong>Upgrade today</strong> to unlock this episode, join us live next month, and get access to our entire Unfiltered library.</p><p>We keep the paywall light, but this is where the real conversations happen.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p></p><p>The US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran overnight in what the Trump administration is calling Operation Epic Fury &#8212; and Meseidy and Rachel were up at 3:30 AM tracking every development. In this month&#8217;s exclusive Unfiltered Live, they break down what we know, what we don&#8217;t, and why the loudest voices online may be the least informed. From the Strait of Hormuz closure threat to Tucker Carlson calling the strikes &#8220;evil and disgusting,&#8230;</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 213 | Democrats Refused to Stand for This. America Watched - State of the Union Breakdown]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Democrats handed Republicans their 2026 midterm ads &#8212; and didn't even flinch doing it.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-213-democrats-refused-to-stand</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-213-democrats-refused-to-stand</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 26 Feb 2026 20:06:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/189288216/a7c31e98a63b05be93b4a4eab52380c6.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Democrats sat on their hands for veterans, reunited families, and injured little girls &#8212; and Trump made sure the whole country saw it. Meseidy and Rachel break down the longest State of the Union in modern history: the viral moments the media buried, the policy wins nobody's talking about, the economic numbers that are actually moving, and why this speech was less about Congress and more about the 2026 midterms. Plus: Hillary Clinton's Epstein testimony, Kamala's 2028 dip back into the water, and a quick but important update on Little Punch the monkey.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3><strong>Episode Highlights</strong></h3><ul><li><p>Trump&#8217;s State of the Union strategy: built for social media clips, not the room &#8212; and why that was the right call</p></li><li><p>The economy is moving: real wages up, gas down, eggs down 34%, mortgage costs falling &#8212; and what the numbers actually mean</p></li><li><p>Democrats refused to stand for veterans, hostage reunions, and an injured 5-year-old &#8212; and an ad was already out within 24 hours</p></li><li><p>Policy breakdown: no tax on tips, Trump Rx, Trump accounts, data center power plants, stock trading ban, tariffs replacing income tax</p></li><li><p>Kamala Harris is testing the 2028 waters &#8212; and the DNC is suspiciously sitting on their own post-mortem report</p></li></ul><h3>Follow Us On Youtube!</h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4617,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:114,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2025-09-16T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2><strong>Get R&amp;R Merch!</strong></h2><p>Our official merchandise store is <strong>NOW OPEN! &#128717;&#65039; </strong>We've launched with our first four items to get things started, including coffee mugs, oversize t-shirt and a tote bag. <strong><a href="https://riveraandreeves.myshopify.com/">You can check out everything available right now.</a></strong></p><h2>Chapters</h2><p><strong>00:00</strong> &#8212; Cold open &amp; intro </p><p><strong>01:46</strong> &#8212; What the State of the Union actually was (and wasn't) </p><p><strong>05:00</strong> &#8212; Quick hits: JD Vance in Wisconsin, Iran talks, Cuba speedboat, Hillary &amp; Epstein, SAVE Act, Little Punch </p><p><strong>10:15</strong> &#8212; The speech was written for social media, not Congress </p><p><strong>14:34</strong> &#8212; The Sage clip &amp; Sarah McBride camera pan breakdown </p><p><strong>18:05</strong> &#8212; Democrats refuse to stand &#8212; the most viral moment explained </p><p><strong>23:00</strong> &#8212; The American Sovereignty ad drops within 24 hours </p><p><strong>31:52</strong> &#8212; Economy breakdown: wages, gas, eggs, mortgages, GDP &#8212; what's real <strong>36:32</strong> &#8212; No tax on tips, Trump accounts, Trump Rx, stock trading ban </p><p><strong>42:53</strong> &#8212; Data centers must build their own power plants </p><p><strong>43:23</strong> &#8212; Tariffs replacing federal income tax &#8212; crazy or logical? </p><p><strong>45:23</strong> &#8212; Best guest moments: Eric Slover, the Korean War vet, Irina Zaruzka's mother, Dahlia Coleman </p><p><strong>55:50</strong> &#8212; Rashida Tlaib chanting KKK, Al Green ejected again </p><p><strong>57:56</strong> &#8212; Did this speech deliver enough for the midterms? </p><p><strong>1:01:28</strong> &#8212; CNN's post-speech poll surprised even CNN </p><p><strong>1:06:37</strong> &#8212; Kamala Harris is back &#8212; and the DNC won't release the post-mortem </p><p><strong>1:13:15</strong> &#8212; Wrap-up &amp; Saturday Unfiltered teaser</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ep. 212 | America Wins Gold, 50 Democrats Bail on the SOTU & AOC's Embarrassing Damage Control]]></title><description><![CDATA[America won gold, the left lost their minds, and tonight the whole country watches Trump address a half-empty Congress.]]></description><link>https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-212-america-wins-gold-50-democrats</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/p/ep-212-america-wins-gold-50-democrats</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Meseidy]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 24 Feb 2026 20:45:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/189061840/5256942a267a91b82c5cf51bf53ce5ea.mp3" length="0" type="audio/mpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>America is riding high &#8212; and the left can&#8217;t stand it. Meseidy and Rachel break down the US Men&#8217;s Hockey team&#8217;s stunning overtime gold medal win over Canada, Cash Patel joining the locker room celebration, and why the media immediately tried to turn a national victory into a culture war. Then it&#8217;s State of the Union prep: 50 Democrats staging a walkout, Joy Reid headlining a counter-rally on the National Mall, and what Trump <em>must</em> say about the economy to keep the midterms from slipping. Plus &#8212; AOC&#8217;s embarrassing Instagram live defending her Munich meltdown, the Mexico cartel explosion threatening tourists and World Cup plans, and Iran tensions building behind the scenes. It&#8217;s a big one. Grab your coffee.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://riveraandreeves.substack.com/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><h3><strong>Episode Highlights</strong></h3><ul><li><p>US Men&#8217;s Hockey defeats Canada 2&#8211;1 in sudden-death overtime on the 46th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice &#8212; and the celebration went exactly how you&#8217;d hope</p></li><li><p>Cash Patel caught on video celebrating with the team; the left discovers fiscal conservatism overnight</p></li><li><p>State of the Union preview: 50 Democrats skipping, Joy Reid hosting a counter-rally, and what Trump needs to nail on the economy</p></li><li><p>AOC does damage control on Instagram Live over her Munich security fumble &#8212; boyfriend snoring included</p></li><li><p>Mexico is on fire: cartel wars, locked-down tourists, and a World Cup on the horizon</p></li></ul><h3>Follow Us On Youtube!</h3><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;YouTube&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:&quot;button-wrapper&quot;}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary button-wrapper" href="https://www.youtube.com/@RiveraandReeves"><span>YouTube</span></a></p><h2><strong>Listen For Free at 6pm</strong></h2><div class="apple-podcast-container" data-component-name="ApplePodcastToDom"><iframe class="apple-podcast episode-list" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076&quot;,&quot;isEpisode&quot;:false,&quot;imageUrl&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/podcast_1762900076.jpg&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastTitle&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;podcastByline&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;duration&quot;:4617,&quot;numEpisodes&quot;:114,&quot;targetUrl&quot;:&quot;https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076?uo=4&quot;,&quot;releaseDate&quot;:&quot;2025-09-16T22:00:00Z&quot;}" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rivera-and-reeves/id1762900076" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay *; encrypted-media *;" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><iframe class="spotify-wrap podcast" data-attrs="{&quot;image&quot;:&quot;https://i.scdn.co/image/ab6765630000ba8a49ec4394d500a203a6041145&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Rivera and Reeves&quot;,&quot;subtitle&quot;:&quot;Meseidy Rivera and Rachel Reeves&quot;,&quot;description&quot;:&quot;Podcast&quot;,&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.spotify.com/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;noScroll&quot;:false}" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/show/461tAXqcsA6PZWcoal5QnA" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen="true" allow="encrypted-media" loading="lazy" data-component-name="Spotify2ToDOM"></iframe><h2><strong>Get R&amp;R Merch!</strong></h2><p>Our official merchandise store is <strong>NOW OPEN! &#128717;&#65039; </strong>We've launched with our first four items to get things started, including coffee mugs, oversize t-shirt and a tote bag. <strong><a href="https://riveraandreeves.myshopify.com/">You can check out everything available right now.</a></strong></p><h2>Chapters</h2><p><strong>0:00</strong> &#8212; Intro</p><p><strong>1:10</strong> &#8212; US Men&#8217;s Hockey Wins Olympic Gold: The Comeback Story</p><p><strong>9:30</strong> &#8212; Cash Patel in the Locker Room &amp; the Left&#8217;s Meltdown</p><p><strong>14:00</strong> &#8212; Women&#8217;s Hockey Declines the White House Invite</p><p><strong>22:00</strong> &#8212; State of the Union Preview: Economy, Immigration &amp; the Production</p><p><strong>33:00</strong> &#8212; 50 Democrats Walk Out: Joy Reid&#8217;s Counter-Rally Explained</p><p><strong>44:00</strong> &#8212; AOC&#8217;s Munich Damage Control (with Snoring Backup)</p><p><strong>53:00</strong> &#8212; Mexico Cartel War, Iran Tensions &amp; Wrapping Up</p>
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