Tennessee Red: Justin Kanew on theocracy in the Volunteer State

Rural voters keep hearing about scandal in Washington, but most of it never gets past the surface. Tim Miller, host of the Bulwark Podcast, joins Heidi to dig into what's actually driving political corruption right now, from foreign money shaping U.S. policy to the insider trading scandals barely making headlines. Tim traces how political corruption has evolved, from straightforward kickbacks to the foreign money now quietly steering decisions on war and energy. He and Heidi also get into what's happening back home in North Dakota, where data centers are reshaping local economies and testing what rural communities are willing to trade for growth. In this episode: How decades of scandal have made it normal for politicians to profit off their power How foreign money, especially from the Gulf states, shapes U.S. decisions on war and energy Insider trading and bribery in how political campaigns get funded What the lawsuits against Trump show about deeper corruption The midterm outlook in Iowa and North Dakota, and why low voter enthusiasm could hurt incumbents How data centers are changing rural economies and who actually benefits Why Democrats keep losing the messaging fight, and what could turn that around Connect with Tim Miller Bulwark Podcast Twitter

Trump is fighting to control how states run their own elections, and the fallout could shape the midterms before a vote is cast. Aaron Rupar, an independent journalist who's tracked Trump and the media covering him for years, joins Heidi and Joel to break down what's happening and why it matters outside Washington. Aaron explains how he tells what's real from what isn't, in a news cycle built for speed, and why he left Vox to build Public Notice on his own terms. He also gets into how Twitter/X, Bluesky, and Substack have split the audience for political news, and what that means when rural voters end up with different versions of the same story depending on where they look. In this episode: What Trump's push for more control over state elections actually means How Aaron fact-checks claims in real time without getting it wrong Why he left Vox to go independent, and what changed Platform fragmentation: Twitter/X, Bluesky, Substack, and what it does to political coverage The enthusiasm gap heading into the midterms, on both sides Connect with Aaron Rupar: Substack Bluesky Aaron's argument is simple. Watch the elections fight, not the noise around it. The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

Data centers are showing up in rural counties across the country, and not everyone is happy about it. Isaac Wright, a strategist who's spent two decades working rural campaigns, joins Heidi and Joel to talk about why that is, what tariffs have cost farmers selling to Brazil and China, and why he sees real opportunity for Democrats in Iowa and Ohio in the midterms. Isaac explains why rural voters respond to authenticity and local trust over national talking points, and what Rob Sand's win in Iowa says about how to build that trust. He also gets into AI regulation, and what it would look like for policy to actually reflect the values Democrats say they hold. In this episode: Why Iowa and Ohio look like real opportunities this cycle Data centers: local jobs versus strain on water and power What tariffs on Brazil and China have cost farmers Building trust and likability in rural races What it actually means to "localize" a campaign Connect with Isaac Wright: LinkedIn Isaac makes a clear case for what it takes to win back rural voters, one county at a time. The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

Farm country has been waiting on a new farm bill for almost two years. Angie Craig, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee and a Minnesota congresswoman now running for the state's open Senate seat, joins Heidi and Joel to talk about what's holding it up, what tariffs have cost rural families, and why farm bankruptcies are becoming as much a security question as an economic one. Angie covers the imbalance that lets large agribusiness thrive while beginning farmers struggle to get a foothold, what immigration enforcement means for rural communities, and where she thinks the next farm bill needs to go if it's going to help anyone outside the biggest operations.

Screw worms nearly disappeared from American ranches sixty years ago. Dr. Eric Deeble, executive director of Americans for the Common Good and former Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at USDA under the Biden Administration, has watched them find their way back, and he joins Heidi and Joel to explain what this parasitic fly means for livestock, trade, and the food supply. Eric covers the biology behind the outbreak, how fast one infected animal can spread it, and why the fly is finding its way north again. He also gets into a newer technique for breeding sterile flies that could make eradication cheaper this time around. In this episode: Why screw worms target living tissue and what that means for treatment How a sterile insect technique wiped out the fly from the U.S. the first time What let the fly move north again The economic risk ranchers face from one undetected outbreak How egg sexing could lower the cost of eradication