S6 Ep23: Weekly Skews – The SPLC Indictment: Good News, Racism Was Fake The Whole Time

Today we talk about a guy in Colorado who’s trapped in a time loop movie of unwarranted traffic stops because of Big Computer. It’s a silly anecdote connected to the growing privacy and law enforcement nightmare that is Flock Safety, and how cities and counties across the U.S. have helped set up “Netflix for Stalkers.” Do you want to livestream a child’s gymnastics class in Georgia? Flock is the service for you.This is a special bonus episode of Weekly Skews. If you would like to get more Skews in your life, subscribe to our Patreon for just $5 a month for Patreon exclusive episodes released every other week. https://www.weeklyskews.com/moreWeekly Skews is brought to you by Fast Growing Trees. Right now, they have great deals on spring planting essentials, up to half off on select plants. And listeners to our show get TWENTY PERCENT OFF their first purchase when using the code SKEW at checkout.Visit https://www.fastgrowingtrees.com/skew and use the code SKEWThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10%  https://www.betterhelp.com/skews Weekly Skews is brought to you by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.If you believe religious freedom is supposed to protect everybody, not be weaponized to turn away good families, visit https://www.au.org/crooked to learn more and become a member today. 

The Correspondents Dinner assassin that wasn’t, a Washington press freakout over hearing gunshots vaguely in the distance, and whether there’s anyone left in America who hasn’t tried to kill a president. Then we get into the paper thin federal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center and the effort to protect the real victim of racism: Donald Trump’s reputation. Also, the funny reactions of Nazis, who want to be very clear: the SPLC are dumb nerds who don’t tell them what to do.Weekly Skews is brought to you by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.If you believe religious freedom is supposed to protect everybody, not be weaponized to turn away good families, visit https://www.au.org/crooked to learn more and become a member today. This episode is sponsored by ZBiotics. Go to https://www.zbiotics.com/SKEW now. You'll get 15% off your first order when you use SKEW at checkout

Live Nation's predatory grip on live music is finally cracking — and a homegrown, hyper-local music scene is rising up to take its place. Matt sits down with longtime music publicist and industry expert Devon Léger to talk festival season, why the corporate giants are getting pinched, and how Live Nation's monopoly playbook (own the venues, the artists, the tickets, then jack up prices) is running into real backlash. They get into the surprising forces reshaping the industry — from Gen Z drinking less to indie festivals outlasting the Coachellas of the world — plus how house concerts, co-op venues, and immigrant music scenes are quietly building a more sustainable future for live music. If you're feeling discouraged, Devon's prescription is simple: go to a show.Follow Devon's work: Seattle Picks on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seattlepicks_206 Seattle Picks on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seattlepicks Hearth Music: https://www.hearthmusic.com KITHFOLK newsletter: https://hearthmusic.substack.comThis episode is sponsored by ZBiotics. Go to https://www.zbiotics.com/SKEW now. You'll get 15% off your first order when you use SKEW at checkoutWeekly Skews is brought to you by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. If you believe religious freedom is supposed to protect everybody, not be weaponized to turn away good families, visit https://www.au.org/crooked to learn more and become a member today.

RFK Jr. “Yeah yeah, we’ll get to the measles outbreaks, but first what’s up with raccoon penis bones?” The FBI director apparently cries at work, but don’t worry, it’s only because he’s blackout drunk. Trump considers giving himself an Iran War medal. Then, we get into the insane goings on with influencers on the right, where the real ones are self-immolating at the same time they’re being replaced by A.I.This episode is sponsored by ZBiotics. Go to https://www.zbiotics.com/SKEW now. You'll get 15% off your first order when you use SKEW at checkoutWeekly Skews is brought to you by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. If you believe religious freedom is supposed to protect everybody, not be weaponized to turn away good families, visit https://www.au.org/crooked to learn more and become a member today. 

There’s a chimpanzee war. Sound dumb? You’ll never guess. Then we get into JD Vance’s global catastrophe of a week, starting with failed low-effort negotiations with Iran while the Secretary of State got drunk in Miami. Then, we talk about the election results in Hungary, where the people basically voted for JD and the rest of the MAGA Dweeb Wing to go eat rocks. It was a campaign with an insane amount of propaganda, meddling, and a pretty weird sex abuse scandal involving the new Prime Minister’s ex-wife. Join us.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10%  https://www.betterhelp.com/skews This episode is sponsored by ZBiotics. Go to https://www.zbiotics.com/SKEW  now. You'll get 15% off your first order when you use SKEW at checkout

 Matt sits down again with Joe Sudbay, host of State of the States on SiriusXM, to check in on what's actually happening in American politics right now — and why you have to look at the state and local level to see it clearly. Since the beginning of 2025, Democrats have flipped 30 Republican state legislative seats while Republicans haven't picked up a single Democratic one. Joe breaks down the pattern of overperformance showing up in special elections from Iowa to Florida to Georgia, why state legislative candidates are connecting with voters in ways that DC politicians can't, and how all of that local organizing and candidate recruitment is building toward something big in 2026. 

JD Vance has a new book about his journey through forty-eleven religions before he arrived at the correct one, Catholicism-Where-You-Hate-the-Pope. Then Mark and Trae talk about the president threatening war crimes in internet posts where he sarcastically converts to Islam. Then, a fun discussion with scientist, small business owner, and Congressional candidate Dr. Michaela Barnett about running for office because you’re mad as hell and no one else is doing it.Weekly Skews is brought to you by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.If you believe religious freedom is supposed to protect everybody, not be weaponized to turn away good families, visit https://www.au.org/crooked to learn more and become a member today. This episode is sponsored by ZBiotics. Go to https://www.zbiotics.com/SKEW  now. You'll get 15% off your first order when you use SKEW at checkoutThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10%  https://www.betterhelp.com/skews 

The White House has horny pun fun with sex-working farmers. Marco Rubio wants you to know he listens to rap music while various prediction market fiascos continue to surround the non-war with Iran. Also, Iran hacked the FBI director’s emails and we learned that he pays for porn? Yeah, Kash Patel pays for porn. Then we get into the overlords’ obsession with replacing teachers with A.I. ,which somehow led to the first lady having to hang out with a Roomba with feet.

Congressional retirements are hitting a modern record heading into the 2026 midterms, and author, political scientist, and professor Dr. Tom Schaller joins Matt to break down what it all means. More Republicans are fleeing the House than at any point in the last century — tied with Trump's own first midterm in 2018 — and historically, that's a very bad sign for the party in power. Tom and Matt dig into what the retirement wave means for Speaker Johnson's razor-thin majority, which races to watch, and why the fundamentals of 2026 look increasingly like a Democratic wave election. Plus, they get into the cracks forming inside the MAGA coalition, Trump's cratering approval numbers, and whether the dam with Trump voters is finally starting to break.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10%  https://www.betterhelp.com/skews This episode is sponsored by ZBiotics. Go to https://www.zbiotics.com/SKEW now. You'll get 15% off your first order when you use SKEW at checkout

We’ve got a new FEMA chief who believes he has telekinetic powers. In other DHS news, the likely new secretary has been stealing Delta Force valor but you can’t catch him on it because the truth is too classified, and Trump is sending ICE to be the new TSA. Then we get into the latest stupid war news. An aircraft carrier is out of commission because of a laundry fire and overflowing toilets and it’s not nearly the biggest waste going on.This episode is sponsored by ZBiotics. Go to https://www.zbiotics.com/SKEW  now. You'll get 15% off your first order when you use SKEW at checkoutThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10%  https://www.betterhelp.com/skews