The Necessary Conversation

In this midweek episode Chad, Haley and Mary Lou discuss the situation regarding the sexual assault of a student by 7 fellow students at Cornell University in 2024 and what role Donald Trump plays in perpetuating an atmosphere of sexual violence without repercussion in contemporary America.
If you have a question for anyone on the show, record it in a 1 minute or under audio or video clip and send it to:
thenecessaryconversationpod@gmail.com

This week on The Necessary Conversation Chad, Haley, and Mary Lou dig into the following topics, with a special appearance by Bob late in the episode.
🇨🇳 American Dictator Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet for Chinese Dictator Xi Jinping — forcing U.S. service members onto their hands and knees to smooth the carpet — then hosted a lavish state dinner with billionaire tech overlords. This from the man who said in 2015 he'd give Xi "a McDonald's hamburger" and told Fox News to "forget the state dinners — that cost a fortune." The visit produced zero tangible results. China is Dad's number one enemy. We ask him: does he support Trump wining and dining Xi?
📺 After banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House last week, Trump launched "Trump TV" — a 24/7 YouTube livestream of his speeches. It opened with 8,000 viewers, dropped to 2,500 within two hours, and bottomed out at 427 by Wednesday morning. Comments were disabled and the promo video used copyrighted clips from Friends and Breaking Bad. A Trump-appointed judge ordered press access restored, but reporters were still being turned away days later. We ask: why did Trump think he could get away with violating the Constitution?
⚠️ A report from The Atlantic revealed that Trump loyalists are pushing him to declare martial law to seize control of the midterm elections — including stationing military at polling places, confiscating ballots, or declaring the election invalid. Trump hasn't said he'll do it, but he did share a column calling the plan "foolproof." We ask the family: would you be okay with this?
💪 We simmer down with our favorite Arnold Schwarzenegger movie — and everyone has to do an impression.
⚖️ The Supreme Court handed Trump a 6-3 win allowing states to batch-check entire voter rolls against a citizenship database — despite experts noting the database returns faulty results and audits consistently show noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare. Justice Jackson warned the ruling puts lawful voters, including naturalized citizens, at risk of being wrongly flagged. We ask: how many citizens getting turned away is worth one noncitizen vote?
🔍 A ProPublica investigation revealed that the FBI was close to launching a bribery probe into Senator Susan Collins' super PAC receiving $150,000 through a shell company from a government contractor — but after Trump took office, the DOJ's public integrity unit was gutted and the investigation died. Meanwhile, Trump has made over 28,700 stock trades in 17 months — more than all members of Congress combined. We ask: is he corrupt?
🏠 And this one's personal. ICE launched operations in our hometown of Great Bend, Kansas — population 14,700. Agents targeted meat plants, feed yards, and Hispanic-owned businesses across western Kansas. Mexican restaurants closed their doors. Legal residents and citizens are afraid to leave their homes. On Thursday, residents rallied in the rain in support of their neighbors. Mary Lou was born there. Bob was born there. Haley was born there. We all lived there. We ask: how does it feel watching Trump invade your hometown?
Dad's back and this one hits home — literally.
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#TrumpChina #TrumpTV #MartialLaw #SCOTUS #FreePressUnderAttack #ICE #GreatBend #TheNecessaryConversation #FamilyPodcast #PoliticalDebate #MAGA #Liberal

If you have a question for anyone on the show, record it in a 1 minute or under audio or video clip and send it to:
thenecessaryconversationpod@gmail.com

In this midweek episode Chad takes Mary Lou through a website made by a member of the Necessary Conversation community that lists all of her "X's" against Trump to see if a visual representation of over 40's issues helps get her closer to finally denouncing him.
If you have a question for anyone on the show, record it in a 1 minute or under audio or video clip and send it to:
thenecessaryconversationpod@gmail.com

This week on The Necessary Conversation, Chad is joined by Haley and Mary Lou, who are together in Oklahoma. Bob is still out recovering.
🚫 Authoritarian Dictator Donald Trump banned CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, confiscating reporters' press badges — something not even Nixon did during Watergate. Trump offered no specific examples of "fake news" and said the ban could be lifted if outlets provide more favorable coverage of him. No Republicans spoke out against it. We ask Mary Lou: is freedom of the press important?
🏛️ A federal judge ruled again that Trump's name can't go on the Kennedy Center. Trump's response? He threatened to "rip it down." Photographers caught him aboard Air Force One examining a placard reading "Kennedy Center DEMOLISHED." The Trump-aligned board voted to close the building for up to two years. Thousands formed a human chain around the center in protest. We ask: why is he so obsessed with putting his name on this building?
👊 Two 17-year-old U.S. citizens from Texas — on their way to a Marine recruiter's office to enlist — were violently beaten by ICE agents after they stopped to record agents detaining people outside an elementary school. One had his wrist broken. An agent told him, "I don't give a damn… Your parents can't help you now." DHS called them "anti-ICE agitators." Both teens say they no longer plan to enlist. We ask: what message does this send?
🌾 We simmer down to talk about our favorite memories from Amarillo, Texas, where the family used to live — and the massive new data center being built there.
⛽ We're losing the war in Iran. Attacks hit Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline — the last workaround after the Strait of Hormuz was shut down — forcing a complete shutdown. Iran and its allies now control all three major oil transport routes in the region. The International Energy Agency called it the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. We ask Mary Lou: does she think Trump knows what he's doing?
☠️ Trump's EPA is repealing limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas power plants and moving to scrap the 2009 endangerment finding that greenhouse gases threaten public health. Preliminary analysis projects the added pollution could cause over 80,000 additional premature deaths and more than $1 trillion in health costs through 2047. Many of the power company CEOs benefiting are major Trump donors. We ask: is Trump willing to poison us so his friends get richer?
🧟 Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate after 92 days out of public view, casting a deciding vote on Monday. But by Thursday he was filmed being loaded into an SUV staring into space, seemingly unaware reporters were speaking to him. We ask: what other job lets you disappear for three months and come back like this?
🌍 And we close with a World War 3 update. European governments are escalating civil defense preparations amid intelligence that Russia may be planning a major escalation. This morning Ukraine fired over 1,000 drones at Russia, including hundreds toward Moscow, in what Moscow's mayor called the biggest drone attack ever on the capital.
No Bob this week but this one covers everything from the First Amendment to the end of the world. Buckle up.
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💬 Drop your thoughts in the comments — we read them all.
#FreePressUnderAttack #KennedyCenter #ICE #IranWar #OilCrisis #ClimateChange #McConnell #WorldWar3 #TheNecessaryConversation #FamilyPodcast #PoliticalDebate #MAGA #Liberal
If you have a question for anyone on the show, record it in a 1 minute or under audio or video clip and send it to:
thenecessaryconversationpod@gmail.com

In this mid-week episode Chad and Mary Lou show one another clips from across the aisle that address a wide range of topics including Kash Patel's public support of bestiality, Mitch Mcconnell's return to public and Mamdani and AOC's behavior at the 911 memorial service.
If you have a question for anyone on the show, record it in a 1 minute or under audio or video clip and send it to:
thenecessaryconversationpod@gmail.com