For this special weekend podcast - John chats with Simon Moya Smith and Julie Francella for their "We're Still Here" segment. Simon is an Oglala Lakota and Chicano journalist. He’s a contributing writer at NBC News and TheNation.com. Julie is a mental health professional with over 30 years of experience in handling complex trauma with Indigenous youth and families. She is an enrolled member of the Ojibway of Batchewana First Nation Reserve, and teaches Indigenous Studies at Durham College, focusing on the impacts of colonization on First Nations people. Then, he interviews Mehran Khaghani who is another comedian from the Boston region, but born in London and raised, in part, in Turkey and Iran aka the Boston of Western Asia. He's been on on Maz Jobrani’s “Brown and Friendly” comedy tour, Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, High Maintenance, and many more.

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John discusses the sketchy history of Trump cabinet picks Matt Gaetz for Attorney General and RFK Jr. for the Dept. of Health and Human Services. Then, he chats with Reverend Barry Lynn who is a long-time activist, civil liberties lawyer, and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and served as the executive director for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State until his retirement in 2017. Next John talks with Ward from Florida about the notion that Christian Nationalism is the foundation behind apartheid. And finally he interviews Skye Perryman who is President and CEO of Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan, national legal organization that promotes democracy and progress through litigation, regulatory engagement, policy education, and research. Perryman took the helm at Democracy Forward a few months after January 6, 2021, in the midst of rising extremism in courts across the country.

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John's monologue today is about Trump's latest cabinet picks. Then, he jokes with Podcast Star Bob Cesca. Next - The God Squad returns for a discussion about politics and religion. And finally, legal analyst Dr. Tracy Pearson is back once again to talk with listeners about current news and other topics.

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