Best Lila Nordstrom Brent Thornburg Podcasts (2025)

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4/21/25 - The Easter Spectacular: 2025 Edition 1:01:08

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2M ago1:01:08

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In 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.…

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4/7/25 - Credible Explanations 59:25

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In 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?…

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3/31/25 - Let's Message 1:10:13

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Turn 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.By Lila Nordstrom/Brent Thornburg

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11/18/24 - Let's Brainstorm 55:19

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Welp....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 podcas…

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11/4/24 - Let's Vibe 58:41

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🚨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 …

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10/28/24 - Beyhive and KHive Unite! 1:08:55

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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 de…

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10/21/24 - Arnold Palmer 58:34

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In 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 …

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10/14/24 - The 2024 CA Prop Guide Spectacular! 51:31

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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 S…

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10/8/24 - No Constituency for Dick Cheney 1:06:54

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In 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 prese…

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9/23/24 - Scandal Mad Libs 52:33

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In 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 …

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9/12/24 - BTL's Harris/Trump Debate Extravaganza! 1:06:45

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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.o…

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9/4/24 - Our Greatest Philosopher on the Nature of Time 1:17:34

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In 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. Havi…

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8/24/24 - A DNC AND 500th Episode Spectacular! 1:27:39

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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 “coco…

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8/7/24 - You Need Joy 1:00:18

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In 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 …

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7/29/24 - 2024's Most Important Endorsement 59:07

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In 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 s…

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7/22/24 - Unburdened by What Has Been 1:06:13

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It'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 abou…

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6/30/24 - June Gloom 1:30:19

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It’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 pod…

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6/17/24 - More Physical Comedy Than Content 57:33

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In 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 Tr…

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5/19/24 - Birthday Indictment Papers 1:14:04

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In 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.…

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5/12/24 - Brain Worms Nation 57:23

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In 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 als…

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3/25/24 - Queen of the Return 1:23:56

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In 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 year…

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2/19/24 - The Opposite of a Billionaire 49:52

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In 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 ques…

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2/14/24 - Delete Your Account 1:05:59

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In Which We Discuss: 1. Note on Joe Biden’s Super Bowl tiktok: In the wise words of Hillary Clinton, delete your account. 2. Jon Stewart is back and has already thought-crimed us so things are looking up! 3. The Santos special election is almost as bizarre as him. 4. Nikki Haley lost Nevada to “none of these candidates,” which is exactly how we’d l…

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2/5/24 - If a Tree Falls and Zero Voters Hear It... 1:37:05

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In Which We Discuss: 1. Ben Softness, our resident legal expert, who is in no way representing the views of Alphabet Inc., joins us to discuss the recent Trump legal action. (Skip to 39:02 to start there) 2. Can we move on, as a people, from caring about Taylor Swift? 3. If a tree falls in the South Carolina primary, and no voters hear it, did an e…

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1/29/24 -The Civil War of Their Dreams 48:53

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In Which We Discuss: 1. Don’t worry, all. Marianne Williamson will soldier on in the presidential race. 2. E. Jean Carroll continues her mission of making Donald Trump look poor. 3. Reminder: Regardless of who Fani Willis is vacationing with, Trump still did the crime. 4. Texas is finally starting that Civil War they’ve always dreamed of. 5. Joe Bi…