Good morning.
It is Wednesday, August 27th. My name's Marlena. This is The Record.
Today's show is all about broken systems, government retaliation, and the quiet power shifts reshaping the map.
From Iowa voters flipping a deep red seat to FEMA employees silenced for warning about Katrina-level risks, from swatting hoaxes hitting the U.S. colleges to Trump-era covert operations in Greenland.
This is not chaos. This is the news. And I'm tired of it being spun as normal.
So here we go.
(00:00:33) Headline number one: Democrat flips Iowa Senate seatWhat’s happening: Democrat Catelin Drey just flipped a deep-red Iowa State Senate seat—one Trump carried by more than 11 points in 2024. She defeated Republican Christopher Prosch in a landslide, breaking the GOP supermajority.
What to know: Her campaign focused on reproductive rights, public schools, and restoring local control. This ended Republicans' unchecked power in Des Moines and echoed a national trend. Democrats are overperforming in suburban and rural Trump states.
My take: When voters choose community over extremism, the map changes. Don’t call it a fluke. It’s a shift.
(00:01:21) Headline number two: FEMA employees punished for whistleblowingWhat’s happening: Over 180 FEMA employees warned Congress that Trump’s appointees had gutted disaster preparedness, putting the country at risk of another Katrina-scale catastrophe. Dozens of them have now been suspended.
What to know: The letter accused FEMA’s inexperienced leadership of undermining emergency response capacity. Critics are calling the suspensions retaliation. Employees warn that FEMA could be headed toward collapse.
My take: Silencing the people who keep us safe isn’t just corruption—it’s sabotage. When the next disaster hits, remember who cut the wires. The writing’s on the wall.
(00:02:19) Headline number three: Swatting hoaxes target U.S. collegesWhat’s happening: A wave of swatting hoaxes is terrorizing college campuses nationwide, forcing lockdowns and wasting emergency resources.
What to know: The Washington Post reports that these hoaxes are escalating—even targeting specific professors and students. Officials say this is part of a coordinated harassment campaign.
My take: Swatting is not a prank. It’s state-level violence outsourced to trolls. The fact that campuses are now battlegrounds says everything about who feels safe—and who doesn’t—in America.
(00:03:07) Headline number four: Trump-linked influence operation in GreenlandWhat’s happening: A new CBS investigation found that Trump-era officials ran covert influence operations in Greenland, targeting local leaders while pushing U.S. control over the island.
What to know: The report reveals coordinated pressure campaigns—diplomatic and covert—that blurred the lines between policy and manipulation.
My take: The Greenland situation isn’t a joke about buying land. It was a real geopolitical grab dressed as satire. The empire doesn’t end—it rebrands.
(00:03:56) Gut checkThe truth is that exhaustion is a political tool. When we’re too tired to track the lies, the people in charge win. But noticing—just noticing—is resistance.
Thank you for being here. If you’re interested in funding The Record, send me a DM. I’m looking for people, brands, and collaborators who want to support independent media.
This is Wednesday, August 27th. This is the news. And I’ll see you tomorrow.🔚 Sign-off
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