Pantsuit Politics

Beth is still on vacation, so Sarah drafted a guest co-host she's been married to for 23 years. Sarah and Nicholas run through the headlines — Iran's "low-key" chess game, the cost of absolutely everything, and the Flock cameras multiplying across the country — before digging into the state of the Democratic Party: the DSA's rise, AOC, purity tests, and why Barack Obama is somehow still the party's leader. Then, Outside of Politics, the full report on the Hollands' 3,000-mile RV trip from hell — eight states, four national parks, one brutal adenovirus, and a PSA about the rental company.

Join us in Minneapolis on August 29 — or grab a virtual ticket to watch the live show from home: https://www.pantsuitpoliticsshow.com/p/2026-events

Support the show and get access to News Briefs, Spicy Live bonus episodes, and community: https://pantsuitpolitics.substack.com

Iran

Trump to Axios: "We are low-keying it" with Iran (Axios): https://www.axios.com/2026/08/09/trump-iran-interview

The Economy

July jobs report: US economy shed 23,000 jobs (NBC News): https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/july-2026-jobs-report-rcna591138

The Employment Situation — July 2026 (BLS): https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Chick-fil-A keeps winning over customers despite quietly increasing prices by 55% (Market Realist): https://marketrealist.com/how-much-have-menu-prices-of-chick-fil-a-gone-up/

Substack essay on Chick-fil-A pricing that Sarah mentioned (add link)

Surveillance & Flock Cameras

The New York Times on Flock cameras (add link)

How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking (The Washington Post): https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/08/02/how-police-officers-used-vast-network-cameras-spy-their-exes/

Police cameras tracked one driver 526 times in four months, lawsuit says (NBC News): https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/virginia-police-used-flock-cameras-track-driver-safety-lawsuit-surveil-rcna230399

The Democratic Party

Platner's Top Strategist on What Went Wrong | The Ezra Klein Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xET1CqVTrNE

Pantsuit Politics on the Reagan legacy (add link)

Outside of Politics: The RV Trip

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library — Plan Your Visit: https://www.trlibrary.com/visit

Medora Musical: https://medora.com/medoramusical/

Pitchfork Steak Fondue: https://medora.com/pitchforksteakfondue/

Sun Tours — Blackfeet-owned tours of Glacier National Park: https://www.suntours.co/

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The breaking news in Sarah's hometown is the breaking news everywhere:
Paducah, Kentucky is getting a $100 billion data center. Sarah is joined
by Lacey Bowling, head of Paducah Cooperative Ministries, to talk about
what the anti-data center backlash gets right and wrong — water, power
bills, pollution, tax subsidies — and the deeper story: a trust vacuum
at every level of government and a growing sense that the wealth isn't
for the rest of us. Outside of Politics: their kids are officially high
school seniors.

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Beth is out for two more weeks, so I've got a guest host: Laura Tremaine, my co-host over at Slow Read. We start in California, where Laura has lived for 25 years, and get honest about Gavin Newsom — the trolling, Prop 50, the podcast with Charlie Kirk, and why even the people rolling their eyes at him keep talking themselves into him for 2028. That opens up a bigger question we can't stop circling: what does the Democratic Party actually stand for right now, with no leader and no message? Then we get into that viral Atlantic piece, "The End of Reading Is Here." We talk about slow reading as an antidote to algorithmic media, what our civic life loses when people stop reading books, and why neither of us is ready to call it over just yet. We also announce our next Slow Read book. Outside of Politics: the summer the movies came back. The Odyssey, Spider-Man, Toy Story 5, and whether Christopher Nolan is our new Spielberg.

Two weeks left to grab tickets to our live show in Minneapolis on August 29: https://www.pantsuitpoliticsshow.com/p/join-us-in-minneapolis-94f

Topics discussed:

• Gavin Newsom, California Politics, and the 2028 Democratic Primary

• The Democrats' Search for a Fighter (and a Message)

• Slow Reading as an Antidote to Algorithmic Media

• The Atlantic's "The End of Reading" and What It Means for Civic Life

• Slow Read's Next Book: Outlander

• Outside of Politics: The Summer the Movies Came Back

Mentioned in this episode:

The End of Reading Is Here (The Atlantic) — https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/08/reading-crisis-postliterate-age/687618/

Slow Read — https://slowread.substack.com

Laura Tremaine's Secret Stuff — https://secretstuff.substack.com

Our show is listener-supported. Join our community of paid subscribers at https://pantsuitpolitics.substack.com

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Teen driving is the leading cause of death among adolescents — and most of us are completely winging it when we hand over the keys. Dr. Charlie Klauer is a Research Scientist and Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. She's spent fifteen years doing naturalistic driving research: cameras and sensors in teenagers' cars, watching what they actually do. We took notes and hope you'll find her learnings helpful, too. Topics discussed:Why teen driving is more dangerous than most parents realizeHow to structure the learner's permit period for maximum practiceNight driving, interstate driving, and other milestone moments to sequence carefullyHow parents' own driving habits shape teens behind the wheelApps and tools for monitoring teen drivers without being in the carWhy giving a teen "their own" car may increase risky drivingAt what age teens should start learning — and why waiting until 18 isn't the answerDr. Klauer's survey for parents (link in show notes)Join us live in Minneapolis on August 29 — virtual tickets available at pantsuitpoliticsshow.com.
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It's easy to check the organ donor box on your driver's license without thinking too much about how organs are treated and routed to people who need them. NYT investigative reporter Brian Rosenthal thoroughly examined the system. His complicated findings have led to congressional inquiry and meaningful progress. This is a conversation about where the system fell short, what his reporting changed, and what still needs work.Topics discussed:How the organ transplant system actually works (it's not really a list)Why doctors can refuse organs offered to their patients — and patients are never toldWhat federal pressure on organ procurement organizations produced in KentuckyHow the priority list was being bypassed 20% of the time — and why time pressure wasn't actually the reasonWealthy foreign nationals getting faster organ access at certain U.S. hospitalsWhat's changed since Brian's reporting and what reforms are now in placeThe future of organ donation: animal organs, AI matching, printed organs
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