Shows
Brain Trust Live7/29/25 - A Crisis With No CauseIn Which We Discuss:
1. How many times are we going to get breaking news that this guy is in the Epstein files, a thing we’ve known in our hearts since thinking itself was invented?
2. At long last, Barack Obama has finally been told about the crisis in Gaza!
3. Trump health controversy leads us to discover shocking news: Mitch McConnell is still alive and still in the senate.
4. Democrats so bad at their jobs that voters now trust Republicans more on TARIFFS.
5. New York City primary results leave Andrew Cu...2025-07-2953 minBrain Trust Live7/1/25 - Sometimes Good Things Still Happen!In Which We Discuss:
1. Bad things are happening a lot out there, but sometimes good things happen! And that’s okay too!
2. Will John Fetterman ever make it to his beach vacation or will he be stuck forever in the One Big Beautiful Bill vote-a-rama?
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of chirping birds, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL! Then rate us on i...2025-07-011h 06Brain Trust Live6/17/25 - What's Math Anyway?In Which We Discuss:
1. Crowd math is not math, it’s a vibe.
2. There’s no such thing as pointless activism.
3. Maybe Democrats never do the WORST version of the thing, but why are they so complicit in the thing?
4. Can Democrats not put us in the position of having to agree with Tucker Carlson?
5. Are you in NYC? Vote for Mamdani! Elect fun people with ideas!
6. Speaking of ideas, you can have them too!
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornb...2025-06-181h 02Brain Trust Live4/21/25 - The Easter Spectacular: 2025 EditionIn Which We Discuss:
1. It’s our yearly Easter special! This year we learn the story of Jesus’s resurrection from leading biblical expert and improvisational essayist Marjorie Taylor Green!
2. Pete Hegseth: Still drunk texting war plans to his friends.
3. Chris Van Hollen is the one Democrat to try a stunt this week. Next week let’s aim for two!
4. Our hot take on private space travel.
5. An important general PSA: Have fun out there, guys!
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at...2025-04-211h 01Brain Trust Live4/7/25 - Credible ExplanationsIn Which We Discuss:
1. The April 5th protests: A great place to be mad about…literally anything.
2. We famously love a filibuster stunt, but save your money. Cory Booker’s presidential campaign will be funded by the “good billionaires,” not your $5.
3. Did you ever wonder if there’s a reason you don’t understand what’s going on with these tariffs? Do you wish somebody credible would explain them to you? Us too.
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news...2025-04-0759 minBrain Trust Live3/31/25 - Let's MessageTurn off your push notifications - they're not helping you now. There's a major messaging and strategy challenge in front of us, and we're thinking through how to solve it.
2025-03-311h 10Brain Trust Live11/18/24 - Let's BrainstormWelp....that happened. We're not really sure what the report this week so welcome to our post-election real-time brainstorm session!
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of falling phones, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL! Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!
And, as always, you can buy and review Lila's book here: Some Kids Left Behind.
Plus, subscribe...2024-11-1855 min
Brain Trust Live11/4/24 - Let's Vibe🚨ELECTION DAY IS TOMORROW, NOVEMBER 5th!!! Need help with your CA ballot? Looking for a breakdown of the props? Check out the BTL CA Prop Guide: https://tinyurl.com/CApropguide2024 🚨
In Which We Discuss:
1. What do you do when the one outlier poll is the most respected state pollster in the nation?
2. Newspapers are afraid of Trump. Is it possible pollsters are too?
3. Early vote continues to tell us…that a lot of people are early voting and little else.
4. Brain Trust Live Exclusive: We’re not doing “elec...2024-11-0458 minBrain Trust Live10/28/24 - Beyhive and KHive Unite!In Which We Discuss:
1. Early voting numbers. We’ve got ‘em, and we don’t know what they mean! (Don’t worry, nobody does.)
2. The Trump Nazi Rally adds insult to injury by denying New Yorkers their daily bagel run.
3. Harris’ ability to stay on message in front of television cameras is expiring.
4. Beyhive and KHive finally become one.
5. Latest debacle at LA Times and Washington Post are pretty excellent reasons for doing away with billionaires.
6. Trump’s Rogan interview reminds us that at his core, he’s really just...2024-10-281h 08
Brain Trust Live10/21/24 - Arnold PalmerIn Which We Discuss:
1. Early voting is happening and you should do it!
2. How is it possible that we haven’t left Elon Musk on the moon yet?
3. Donald Trump would like you to know something about Arnold Palmer.
4. Jon Tester’s opponent either got shot in a gunfight in Afghanistan, or shot himself with a pistol while visiting a national park. Just depends who you ask.
5. Control of the senate is within the margin of error.
6. Despite what you see in today’s news, Donald Trump still...2024-10-2158 minBrain Trust Live10/14/24 - The 2024 CA Prop Guide Spectacular!Our ballots have arrived in the mail, and now we have to actually fill them out. It's not such an easy task, though. In every election, Californians are asked to parse a truly unconscionable number of ballot propositions and make informed votes on a number of obscure topics. But here at Brain Trust Live, we're here to help!
Enter: The CA Prop BTL Spectacular. Dive in to our 10 state propositions and learn more about how the system works and what we could do differently. Then, make sure to check out (and share) our written guide, which you c...2024-10-1551 minBrain Trust Live10/8/24 - No Constituency for Dick CheneyIn Which We Discuss:
1. Californians, if you just got your 94 page sample ballot, never fear! Our prop guide is on the way!
2. Eric Adams: He’s not just bad at funding libraries, he’s bad at criming too!
3. What is going on with the Nebraska senate seat? A question we never thought we’d ask!
4. Tim Walz was a model of Minnesota nice even when presented with the world’s most punchable face.
5. Note to the Harris campaign: There is no constituency of Dick Cheney voters.
Brain T...2024-10-081h 06Brain Trust Live9/23/24 - Scandal Mad LibsIn Which We Discuss:
1. This week’s Police Commissioner FBI raid in New York felt eerily similar to last week’s Police Commissioner FBI Raid.
2. Mark Robinson is playing GOP scandal Mad Libs.
3. Donald Trump’s assassination attempt sequel is a ratings flop.
4. Somehow RFK’s sex scandal is the least provocative of the lot.
5. We’re on the precipice of a world in which Ted Cruz is no longer our problem.
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electora...2024-09-2352 minBrain Trust Live9/12/24 - BTL's Harris/Trump Debate Extravaganza!Hold onto your dogs and cats, it’s a Brain Trust Live Harris/Trump Debate Extravaganza (the first of what we *hope* will be many)!
Plus, don't miss Lila's appearances on NPR:
WNYC's All Things Considered: https://www.wnyc.org/story/23-years-after-911-women-and-children-survivors-are-asking-for-more-resources/
WBUR's Here and Now: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2024/09/11/sept-11-stuyvesant-high-school
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of falling phones, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our...2024-09-121h 06Brain Trust Live9/4/24 - Our Greatest Philosopher on the Nature of TimeIn Which We Discuss:
1. Polling: Not sure if you’ve heard, but the presidential election is close
2. New York Times makes unforced error using in an extended tennis metaphor during coverage of Kamala Harris’s CNN interview
3. Kamala Harris, our greatest philosopher on the concept of time, shows surprising discipline in a major new interview
4. Having made it an issue in the first place, Trump is now getting on all sides of the IVF issue in record time.
5. Did AI write Lara Trump’s new single or is Lara Trump...2024-09-041h 17
Brain Trust Live8/24/24 - A DNC AND 500th Episode Spectacular!YOU MADE IT TO OUR 500TH EPISODE! We're so happy you're here and hope that in honor of this milestone we hope you'll subscribe and share this special episode featuring Grant Sloss!
This Week We Discuss:
1. Our favorite guest and secret research consultant Grant Sloss is here to celebrate this milestone!
2. Kamala Harris makes her DNC debut in “coconut brown.”
3. There was no Beyonce performance at the DNC…but we did get Lil’ Jon at the Roll Call?
4. The Tim Walz candidacy is apparently going to be 90% football...2024-08-241h 27Brain Trust Live8/7/24 - You Need JoyIn Which We Discuss:
1. We have a VP candidate! We like him!
2. Democrats are making a slew of good decisions and nobody has any experience with this so we don’t know how to act.
3. What if we all just tried to enact the Democratic party platform? Is that a thing?
4. Trump’s interview with the National Association of Black Journalists somehow went even worse than you’d imagine.
5. If you thought New Gingrich getting bitten by a penguin was crazy, we’ve got a story for you!
6. The...2024-08-071h 00Brain Trust Live7/29/24 - 2024's Most Important EndorsementIn Which We Discuss:
1. The French don’t want their love of ménage à trois to get lost in the olympic frenzy.
2. British pop star Charli XCX makes most important endorsement of the US campaign season.
3. Kamala Harris could set herself apart from past democratic candidates by not making an absolute donkey-brained choice for VP.
4. Nobody wants to sit with JD Vance at the lunch table.
5. Speaking of unpopular people, it’s no longer cool to shake Benjamin Netanyahu’s hand.
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nord...2024-07-2959 minBrain Trust Live7/22/24 - Unburdened by What Has BeenIt's a Presidential chaos spectacular!
Listen, we’d write a rundown, but it’s not worth it. Just listen.
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of falling phones, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL! Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!
And, as always, you can buy and review Lila's book here: Some Kids Left Behind.
Plus, subscrib...2024-07-221h 06Brain Trust Live6/30/24 - June GloomIt’s a June debate and SCOTUS season spectacular with special guest Ben Softness! (Plus the presidential pep talk you’ve been needing.)
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thornburg's look at the week in electoral and political news. Join the millions of falling phones, sirens, helicopters, barking dogs, and computer beeps who love our podcast and tell your friends about BTL! Then rate us on iTunes or find us Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Stitcher, or Instagram!
And, as always, you can buy and review Lila's book here: Some Kids Left Behind.
Plus, su...2024-07-011h 30Brain Trust Live6/17/24 - More Physical Comedy Than ContentIn Which We Discuss:
1. Sadly Donald Trump is not yet a political prisoner! If only.
2. GOP frustrated that the Hunter Biden conviction they’ve long sought is now here.
3. First presidential debate shaping up to be more physical comedy than content.
4. Democrats mysteriously unbothered by spooky parallels to ‘68 Chicago convention.
5. Did Donald Trump commit 34 felonies to get out of going to Milwaukee for the GOP Convention?
6. Imagine how many trips Doug Burgham would get to take to the border if he was Trump’s VP pick!
2024-06-1757 minBrain Trust Live5/19/24 - Birthday Indictment PapersIn Which We Discuss:
1. MMT: Now you don’t have to read the book. (But you should!)
2. To celebrate his 80th, Rudy Giuliani was served birthday cake and birthday indictment papers.
3. Democracy is not, in fact, on the ballot in New York State care of the state Dems.
4. Democrats shocked at 700th poll showing Joe Biden losing battleground states.
5. The Trump Trial strategy can’t rely on jurors trusting Michael Cohen as a non-liar. We know he’s a liar. Work around it.
6. Samuel Alito’s wife: Just ano...2024-05-201h 14Brain Trust Live5/12/24 - Brain Worms NationIn Which We Discuss:
1. Brain Worms: Somebody in the presidential race finally admits to having them!
2. A plea to have fun with the Donald Von Shitzinpants Trial.
3. Some political advice: Dog killing = bad. Hope that helped.
4. Bidenomics, we hardly knew ya!
5. To the surprise of nobody but Nancy Pelosi, Trump-loving Democrat Henry Cuellar is also a criminal.
6. At least there’s still some good news out in the world: Kitara Rivache is out of retirement.
Brain Trust Live is Lila Nordstrom and Brent Thor...2024-05-1357 minBrain Trust Live3/25/24 - Queen of the ReturnIn Which We Discuss:
1. There’s been elections. Lots of elections. We’ll tell you about them.
2. Republicans continue to flee the scene of the crime.
3. Everytime a new government funding bill passes, a new GOP speaker gets their wings.
4. Democrats try to make a splashy announcement, seem unaware that everybody else denounced Netanyahu twenty years ago.
5. Like the collection of old foggety people that it is, Congress sets its sights on banning fun next.
6. The return of George Santos, queen of the return.
Brai...2024-03-251h 23Brain Trust Live2/19/24 - The Opposite of a BillionaireIn Which We Discuss:
1. Ezra Klein condenses twelve years of Brain Trust Live into one hour of reasons why Joe Biden should not run for president.
2. George Santos wishes “you fucking idiots” good luck raising funding next quarter!
3. For once, Joe Manchin’s “Listening Tour” resulted in him listening.
4. The fate of America rests on one simple question: Did anyone see Fani Willis kissing Nathan Wade in the year 2019?
5. Donald Trump becomes the opposite of a billionaire, which is the closest he’ll ever get to that sum.
6. Trump’s...2024-02-1949 min
Radically HumanIs There Any Hope for the Democratic Party?Is There Any Hope for the Democratic Party? with Lila Nordstrom and Brent ThornburgThe hosts of Brain Trust Live join The Radical Secular team for a spirited panel discussion about recent Democratic losses.(00:00) Intro and T-shirts.(09:21) How do we keep losing to these clowns??? Are we doomed to lose the House in 2022, and to the GOP installing Trump or a Trump clone in 2024, regardless of how the American people vote? The role of the culture war.(26:37) Media post-mortems. Almost everyone got it wrong. What's the real culprit for the Virginia...2021-11-081h 28