It Could Happen Here Weekly 256

James is joined by Molly Conger to talk about what to wear this winter to stay warm in the outdoors, and to discuss how the outdoor media talks about equipment and the issues with that model. Here are some of the things James mentioned in the episode, all with non affiliate links! https://armsofandes.com/https://darntough.com/ https://www.sitkagear.com/collection/equinox-guard-collection https://www.royalrobbins.com/us/en-us/men/featured/mosquito-protection-technology/ https://nuyarn.com/ https://www.polartec.com/fabrics/insulation/alpha https://www.primaloft.com/insulation-products/active-series/active-evolve https://pertex.com/fabrics-technologies/quantum-air https://kahtoola.com/gaiters/navagaiter-gtx/ https://auclairgloves.us/products/hybrid-xc-2-finger-mitts-adult-new-fall-2023 https://skida.com/products/limoncello-alpine-hat See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Robert reads an essay by Brazilian activist and podcaster Caio Almendra, about Caio's personal experience helping rally 2 million voters to save Brazilian democracy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Margaret reads you a comfy, cozy story about a robot colony on the moon, and one robot's journey to find a new home--and have her tarot cards readSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file: Israeli Elections and the Palestinians 2026 Elections (The Union Ones) ¡El Chupacabras! Kim Kelly's Morbid Labor Tales  Executive Disorder: Lula’s Victory, AI Election Ads, Voter Fraud, Revolt in Albania You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today!   Sources/Links: Israeli Elections and the Palestinians Israel's Elections: What's at Stake?, International Crisis Group (Max Rodenbeck, Mairav Zonszein, Amjad Iraqi), 15 October 2026 A Jewish Currents Guide to the Israeli Elections, Josh Nathan-Kazis, Jewish Currents, 20 October 2026 Occupied Thoughts interview with Sami Abu Shehadeh https://fmep.org/resource/barred-from-knesset-elections-sami-abu-shehadeh-on-the-state-of-israeli-democracy/ Prospect magazine op-ed on the settlers and the state - https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/middle-east/75279/settler-rioters-are-israeli-state-policythrough-deniable-means 2026 Elections (The Union Ones) https://linktr.ee/PamelaSH ¡El Chupacabras! Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction and Folklore by BenjaminRadford Governing Spirits: Religion, Miracles, and Spectacle in Cuba and Puerto Rico,1898-1956 by Reinaldo L. Román En Qué Quedó Ep. 6 “El Chupacabras”https://open.spotify.com/episode/2r9ISXwgY7zTpWj2EJWcF1 Radio Ambulante “El vampiro entre nosotros”https://open.spotify.com/episode/0hvdSD4aXHwoOWoMYAdN9x Sucking Vulnerability: Neoliberalism, the Chupacabras, and the Post-Cold War Years byWilliam A Calvo-Quirós https://web.archive.org/web/20230814111741/http://www.barriology.com/uploads/2/3/2/7/23276452/calvo-quiros_sucking_vulnerability_rev.pdf El Chupacabra: Icon of Resistance to US Imperialism Species (1995) dir. Roger Donaldson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MGZnLsPSRc La Operación (1982) dir. Ana María García https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoJoWMbRxvM&t=36s La Operación -Background https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6XEuu_auR8&t=8s https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/notas/se-registran-dos-ataques-del-chupacabras/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/30/vieques-puerto-rico-us-navy-base-training https://www.navfac.navy.mil/Portals/68/Documents/Business-Lines/Environmental/Environmental-Restoration/NAVFAC-Atlantic/Vieques/Vieques_Fact_Sheet_03_Depleted_Uranium_in_LIA_Eng.pdf https://www.fs.usda.gov/r08/elyunque/recreation/discover-history/us-military-and-el-yunque-national-forest https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24816374-the-history-of-the-us-department-of-defense-programs-for-the-testing-evaluation-and-storage-of-tactical-herbicides-agent-orange-in-pr/?q=puerto+rico&mode=document#document/p5 https://www.elvocero.com/actualidad/otros/las-grandes-sequ-as-que-marcaron-a-puerto-rico-durante-el-siglo-xx/article_e6a37bce-5269-4040-836d-799a04358fc2.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/12/26/mystery-creature-ravages-puerto-rican-livestock/b7704250-dae0-4fa3-a886-561db637b463/ https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-03-mn-9730-story.html “Monsters and Messiahs by Mike Davis”  “Beast of Borikén" by Julio Anta, Daniel IriZarri, Patricio Delpeche, and Lucas Gattoni Kim Kelly's Morbid Labor Tales  https://proteanmag.com/2021/10/31/picket-lines-in-the-graveyard-a-history-of-cemetery-workers-strikes/ https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67168074 https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/dc33-strike-philadelphia-medical-examiners-injunction-20250703.html https://6abc.com/post/retrieval-dead-bodies-is-being-delayed-due-blue-collar-union-dc33-strike-philadelphia-officials-say/16936166/ https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/sacrilegious-bodies-piling-up-at-cook-county-morgue/ https://6abc.com/archive/8511845/ https://abc7.com/archive/8719820/ https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/02/archives/workers-strike-funeral-homes-100-establishments-hit-in-the.html https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/04/archives/state-fails-to-end-embalmers-strike.html https://thevictorianbookofthedead.wordpress.com/2024/08/28/the-coffin-makers-strike-1872/ https://newspapers.bc.edu/?a=d&d=pilot18720622-01.2.22&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN----------------------- Executive Disorder: Lula’s Victory, AI Election Ads, Voter Fraud, Revolt in Albania https://x.com/aricnesbitt/status/2066923547964928106?a=kc7nT6MWbZZrCG5F3ho&s=20 https://x.com/reaganreese_/status/2064370476449669139?a=o_23wNhd8KJXG1_3jd8&s=20 https://x.com/KenPaxtonTX/status/2097325814689743049?a=-BXTLNGkR3wjP9lkgeE&s=20 https://x.com/AndrewSolender/status/2083629219980960030?a=U6bD8EFjG4McMm-xQCM&s=20 https://x.com/NassauExec/status/2096705749774631131?a=9MzOBMvGxcqDqhpGhgA&s=20 https://x.com/BlueprintFNDN/status/2078957886403670411?a=2Q_B5IADKyInPq5JQKE&s=20 https://x.com/PollTracker2024/status/2076099238363005194?a=GAD-fsC8RATzjNcbr5s&s=20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrw_hLs4O_0 https://x.com/JacobRubashkin/status/2113454492872045007?a=jb16JdrbsG8yhaW1ljI&s=20 https://x.com/NassauExec/status/2094800565452611646?a=wRx4Pm2YJdKDtLMz7Eo&s=20 https://x.com/NassauExec/status/2091865610233786666?a=q7ts8IGOQNOt_zkiCGE&s=20 https://x.com/AdImpact_Pol/status/2051314128468197851?lang=en https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0093650226142143 https://mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-101526/ https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/artificial-intelligence-ai-in-elections-and-campaigns  https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/when-ai-campaign-ads-fake-reality  https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/us/politics/midterm-elections-ai-generated-ads.html https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/deciding-fake-images-candidates-are-using-ai-political-ads-get-vote-rcna605243  https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-10.hjc-dems-staff-report-epstein-and-trump.pdf https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8ly097zw1xwo https://www.daylightsandiego.org/ice-detainee-dies-at-otay-mesa-detention-center-in-san-diego/ https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/27/iraqi-court-sentences-seven-french-isis-members-to-prison/ https://x.com/AJEnglish/status/2113552255576092815 https://sana.sy/en/syria/2353795/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2026/10/27/flavio-bolsonaro-flees-brazil-us/92462116007/ https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3moy4zcl3b52a https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2114740388514697527  https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/netherlands-citizen-arrested-illegally-voting-2024-election  https://x.com/TheJusticeDept/status/2113703040444145701 https://apnews.com/article/california-voter-data-justice-department-lawsuit-0305190ba958051bb86741ac00da36a7  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-state-california-over-voter-list  https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1466286/  https://x.com/USAttyEssayli/status/2113794933236871180 https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-10-26-Order-.pdf  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-charges-28-foreign-nationals-california-election-crimes  https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/trump-noncitizen-voting-court/ https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/2087950683831931327a=2VozR5e62ZW8NoNmfl8&s=20 https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/2087950683831931327 https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/2115228635326242842 https://www.hennepinattorney.org/news/news/2026/October/election-charges https://citizens.al/en/2026/09/07/100-days-of-the-flamingo-revolution-the-new-culture-of-civic-protest/  https://www.balkanweb.com/en/On-the-14th-day-of-student-protests--citizens-and-young-people-gather-en-masse-in-front-of-the-Ministry-of-Education./#gsc.tab=0  https://www.tiranatimes.com/albanian-government-tightens-protest-laws-as-crisis-deepens/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The gang discuss how Brazilians organized to beat Bolsonaro, White House allegations of “likely” non-citizen voting, James O'Keefe being charged with unlawful voting, $137 million in AI campaign ads and politician deepfakes, and why there are massive protests in Albania.Sources: https://x.com/aricnesbitt/status/2066923547964928106?a=kc7nT6MWbZZrCG5F3ho&s=20 https://x.com/reaganreese_/status/2064370476449669139?a=o_23wNhd8KJXG1_3jd8&s=20 https://x.com/KenPaxtonTX/status/2097325814689743049?a=-BXTLNGkR3wjP9lkgeE&s=20 https://x.com/AndrewSolender/status/2083629219980960030?a=U6bD8EFjG4McMm-xQCM&s=20 https://x.com/NassauExec/status/2096705749774631131?a=9MzOBMvGxcqDqhpGhgA&s=20 https://x.com/BlueprintFNDN/status/2078957886403670411?a=2Q_B5IADKyInPq5JQKE&s=20 https://x.com/PollTracker2024/status/2076099238363005194?a=GAD-fsC8RATzjNcbr5s&s=20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrw_hLs4O_0 https://x.com/JacobRubashkin/status/2113454492872045007?a=jb16JdrbsG8yhaW1ljI&s=20 https://x.com/NassauExec/status/2094800565452611646?a=wRx4Pm2YJdKDtLMz7Eo&s=20 https://x.com/NassauExec/status/2091865610233786666?a=q7ts8IGOQNOt_zkiCGE&s=20 https://x.com/AdImpact_Pol/status/2051314128468197851?lang=en https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0093650226142143 https://mediaproject.wesleyan.edu/releases-101526/ https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/artificial-intelligence-ai-in-elections-and-campaigns  https://www.ncsl.org/state-legislatures-news/details/when-ai-campaign-ads-fake-reality  https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/us/politics/midterm-elections-ai-generated-ads.html https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/deciding-fake-images-candidates-are-using-ai-political-ads-get-vote-rcna605243  https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2026-10.hjc-dems-staff-report-epstein-and-trump.pdf https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8ly097zw1xwo https://www.daylightsandiego.org/ice-detainee-dies-at-otay-mesa-detention-center-in-san-diego/ https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/2026/10/27/iraqi-court-sentences-seven-french-isis-members-to-prison/ https://x.com/AJEnglish/status/2113552255576092815 https://sana.sy/en/syria/2353795/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2026/10/27/flavio-bolsonaro-flees-brazil-us/92462116007/ https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3moy4zcl3b52a https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2114740388514697527  https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/netherlands-citizen-arrested-illegally-voting-2024-election  https://x.com/TheJusticeDept/status/2113703040444145701 https://apnews.com/article/california-voter-data-justice-department-lawsuit-0305190ba958051bb86741ac00da36a7  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-state-california-over-voter-list  https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1466286/  https://x.com/USAttyEssayli/status/2113794933236871180 https://www.democracydocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-10-26-Order-.pdf  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-charges-28-foreign-nationals-california-election-crimes  https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/10/trump-noncitizen-voting-court/ https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/2087950683831931327a=2VozR5e62ZW8NoNmfl8&s=20 https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/2087950683831931327 https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/2115228635326242842 https://www.hennepinattorney.org/news/news/2026/October/election-charges https://citizens.al/en/2026/09/07/100-days-of-the-flamingo-revolution-the-new-culture-of-civic-protest/  https://www.balkanweb.com/en/On-the-14th-day-of-student-protests--citizens-and-young-people-gather-en-masse-in-front-of-the-Ministry-of-Education./#gsc.tab=0  https://www.tiranatimes.com/albanian-government-tightens-protest-laws-as-crisis-deepens/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Journalist Kim Kelly gives us a spooky little roundup of labor actions from gravediggers, embalmers, and coffin makers (oh my!). Sources:  https://proteanmag.com/2021/10/31/picket-lines-in-the-graveyard-a-history-of-cemetery-workers-strikes/ https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-67168074 https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/dc33-strike-philadelphia-medical-examiners-injunction-20250703.html https://6abc.com/post/retrieval-dead-bodies-is-being-delayed-due-blue-collar-union-dc33-strike-philadelphia-officials-say/16936166/ https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/sacrilegious-bodies-piling-up-at-cook-county-morgue/ https://6abc.com/archive/8511845/ https://abc7.com/archive/8719820/ https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/02/archives/workers-strike-funeral-homes-100-establishments-hit-in-the.html https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/04/archives/state-fails-to-end-embalmers-strike.html https://thevictorianbookofthedead.wordpress.com/2024/08/28/the-coffin-makers-strike-1872/ https://newspapers.bc.edu/?a=d&d=pilot18720622-01.2.22&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN----------------------- See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carlos hunts down the origin of the chupacabra, then explains how U.S. imperialism andPuerto Rico’s many crises gave rise to the bloodsucker. Follow Carlos @vaquero2XL Sources: Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction and Folklore by BenjaminRadford Governing Spirits: Religion, Miracles, and Spectacle in Cuba and Puerto Rico,1898-1956 by Reinaldo L. Román En Qué Quedó Ep. 6 “El Chupacabras”https://open.spotify.com/episode/2r9ISXwgY7zTpWj2EJWcF1 Radio Ambulante “El vampiro entre nosotros”https://open.spotify.com/episode/0hvdSD4aXHwoOWoMYAdN9x Sucking Vulnerability: Neoliberalism, the Chupacabras, and the Post-Cold War Years byWilliam A Calvo-Quirós https://web.archive.org/web/20230814111741/http://www.barriology.com/uploads/2/3/2/7/23276452/calvo-quiros_sucking_vulnerability_rev.pdf El Chupacabra: Icon of Resistance to US Imperialism Species (1995) dir. Roger Donaldson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MGZnLsPSRc La Operación (1982) dir. Ana María García https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoJoWMbRxvM&t=36s La Operación -Background https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6XEuu_auR8&t=8s https://www.elnuevodia.com/noticias/locales/notas/se-registran-dos-ataques-del-chupacabras/ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/30/vieques-puerto-rico-us-navy-base-training https://www.navfac.navy.mil/Portals/68/Documents/Business-Lines/Environmental/Environmental-Restoration/NAVFAC-Atlantic/Vieques/Vieques_Fact_Sheet_03_Depleted_Uranium_in_LIA_Eng.pdf https://www.fs.usda.gov/r08/elyunque/recreation/discover-history/us-military-and-el-yunque-national-forest https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24816374-the-history-of-the-us-department-of-defense-programs-for-the-testing-evaluation-and-storage-of-tactical-herbicides-agent-orange-in-pr/?q=puerto+rico&mode=document#document/p5 https://www.elvocero.com/actualidad/otros/las-grandes-sequ-as-que-marcaron-a-puerto-rico-durante-el-siglo-xx/article_e6a37bce-5269-4040-836d-799a04358fc2.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/12/26/mystery-creature-ravages-puerto-rican-livestock/b7704250-dae0-4fa3-a886-561db637b463/ https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-03-mn-9730-story.html “Monsters and Messiahs by Mike Davis”  “Beast of Borikén" by Julio Anta, Daniel IriZarri, Patricio Delpeche, and Lucas Gattoni See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mia talks with IWW members Pam Suitland-Halas, Andrew D. Ferguson, and Elizabeth Copis-Dukelow about the upcoming elections in the IWW. Links: https://linktr.ee/PamelaSHSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the second of a two part series James looks at the federal government's response to the Lochiel land defence and where people who care about the land can go from here.  https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/coronado/alerts/border-barrier-construction-closure  https://hoyle.house.gov/media/press-releases/lawmakers-demand-transparency-after-us-forest-service-coordinates-with-ice-on-public-lands  https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/labor-day-weekend-family-camping-trip-ends-in-ice-raid/281-fdb42198-76df-4922-ae38-d2e3faf58ca4 https://cochiseregionalnews.substack.com/p/hathway-on-lochiel-only-violent-physical  https://azsheriffs.org/newsroom/santa-cruz-county-public-safety-open-letter/  https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R46601/R46601.2.pdf See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode Dana El Kurd talks through what the Israeli elections mean for Palestinians across the territories and within Israel. She goes over the latest reports on how the election might play out, and recent events that have affected campaigning in Israel.  Sources: Israel's Elections: What's at Stake?, International Crisis Group (Max Rodenbeck, Mairav Zonszein, Amjad Iraqi), 15 October 2026 A Jewish Currents Guide to the Israeli Elections, Josh Nathan-Kazis, Jewish Currents, 20 October 2026 Occupied Thoughts interview with Sami Abu Shehadeh https://fmep.org/resource/barred-from-knesset-elections-sami-abu-shehadeh-on-the-state-of-israeli-democracy/ Prospect magazine op-ed on the settlers and the state - https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/middle-east/75279/settler-rioters-are-israeli-state-policythrough-deniable-means See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.