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  • Is it a Hot Flash or the Climate Crisis? | America, You Got This?

    Is it a Hot Flash or the Climate Crisis? | America, You Got This?
    2026/08/03

    The world is on fire. You know that meme about the disaster getting closer until you’re the one filming it? Last year I was filming it. 40% of my daughter’s school was damaged by the Palisades Fire, and while the school has been repaired, she lost her senior year to climate change, and many of her friends lost their homes. A billion-dollar climate disaster hits the US every two and a half weeks. And mainstream news coverage of the climate crisis has gone down three years in a row.

    This week we sat down with Chris Gloninger, my friend and former co-anchor on the very short-lived Climate Report (find out why in the episode). Chris is the meteorologist who left his Iowa broadcast TV job after death threats for reporting on climate change. Because we’re all literally feeling the heat, we thought it would be great to have Chris on to talk about what’s actually happening and why you’re not hearing about it on the news.

    Chris is now a recurring segment! We’re calling it the Dystopian Weather Report or something like that. Help us name it in the comments!

    Lauren called in from a van on day 10 of the 1000 Miles to Memphis March, somewhere between Nashville and Atlanta, with Bri Woodson driving.

    Watch the full episode and let us know what you think in the comments. See you Monday!

    Maya & Lauren



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mayaonstage.substack.com
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    23 分
  • Lessons from 1000 Miles to Memphis | America, You Got This?

    Lessons from 1000 Miles to Memphis | America, You Got This?
    2026/07/28
    Monday’s America, You Got This? was live from Nashville, where Lauren is on day 3 of the 1000 Miles to Memphis March, a 36-day journey to register 100,000 voters and amplify the grassroots organizers already doing the work. We learned a lot in real time about what it means to activate and build community, not just in the lead-up to the midterms, but at all times. Watch the full episode to learn along with us because there are so many more takeaways than listed here: * There is a roadmap, and the organizations that have it are underfunded. Antricia Gordon organizer and Deputy Director of The Equity Alliance said it plainly: “Black organizations especially are the least funded historically.” These organizations have the strategies, the community relationships, and the on-the-ground experience that no national campaign can replicate. The underfunding of Black and brown-led organizations should be viewed as a crisis because it means the people with the most expertise have to work harder just to reach the people who need them most. And this affects everyone. People often ask, “What can I do?” You can share their work, donate, and/or volunteer your skills. All hands on deck!* Showing up means answering hard questions first. Lauren said she is learning to earn her place in the spaces she travels through. Just some of the questions she had to answer while building trust: “Why are we here? What’s the intention? Is this a grift? Are we highlighting the right things?” There is a fine line between healthy allyship and riding into town on a well-funded white horse to save the day. It’s important to talk about it directly. These are hard conversations. They are ongoing, and that’s an essential part of the work we have to do to strengthen these muscles.* White men are starting to get it. I asked Don, aka AngryMaleVet, directly if white guys are finally getting it, and good news…Yes! "These things are starting to affect them, even as white males who kind of lived in a cocoon. Their eyes are starting to open up. And then when you see people being executed in the streets, an unnecessary war — I think people start to wonder, hey, those are my kids that are going to war." Income inequality, unaffordable healthcare, kids going to war for the ultra-wealthy aren’t new problems; the question is whether they direct that anger at immigrants and trans kids or at the people actually responsible. Don is making sure that anger is pointed in the right direction. * Generational trauma works both ways. Lauren on why she’s there: “That generational trauma is not going to stop for our neighbors and communities who are the ones being harmed unless folks like us decide we need to play a part in stopping that harm too. Frankly, we’re the ones who generationally have caused the harm. My ancestors caused the harm. And I sometimes cause the harm. And I need to be willing to understand when that happens.” Generational trauma can be experienced, but it can also be inflicted. If we’re not examining that, we’re not going to get anywhere. * It starts with organizing the people close to you: Shani Glapion of Stand Up Nashville is organizing rallies, forums, and marches through the South. She's also the first one to say: "You don't have to jump off the porch immediately and come do what I'm doing. Just send the text messages, make the calls, make sure your people are straight." Relational organizing starts in your phone, with the people already in your contacts. With voting rights constantly under attack, a simple text reminding them to register to vote and check their polling location (to make sure it hasn’t changed) can make all the difference. * Media coverage and funding are connected. It’s a circular problem. If local media only shows up when there’s a spectacle, and national media only covers what local media validates, then the organizations doing the unglamorous daily work of registering voters, fighting data centers, and educating communities about redistricting are invisible to the funders who rely on coverage to find them. As Shatika Davis of The Equity Alliance put it: “I think it depends on what is interesting to them and what would make newsworthy headlines to them.” Which brings me back to point one. We must attract media attention to ensure that the organizations with the roadmap also get the funds to do the work.Hearing from people who are doing the work is always inspiring. You can help keep the energy going by getting involved. Get involved:* Support The Equity Alliance: equityalliance.org* Support Stand Up Nashville: standupnashville.org* Follow and fund the march: 1000milestomemphis.comSee you next Monday.Maya & Lauren This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mayaonstage.substack.com
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    1 時間 2 分
  • Death Comes in Threes...Who's Next? | America, You Got This?

    Death Comes in Threes...Who's Next? | America, You Got This?
    2026/07/13

    We just had our first show at our new time! Monday mornings! We figured it would be a fun way to start the week… obviously, we had no idea that Lindsey Graham would go and die. He did. So we cover that in this episode (the reactions to his death and ours), but we also talk about lipstick, religion, and what might happen to Lauren’s toenails on the 1000 Miles to Memphis March that her nonprofit The Good Work is helping to organize.

    You can get involved by donating or signing up to march or join any of the events along the way.

    For everyone who is new here, our format is a little bit of news, hot takes that might get us canceled, tips/tools/tricks on how to stay sane, and a lot of laughter.

    We hope you’ll join us every Monday morning!

    Happy Monday, everyone!

    Maya & Lauren



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mayaonstage.substack.com
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    57 分
  • Who Needs a Hydration Break?! | America, You Got This?

    Who Needs a Hydration Break?! | America, You Got This?
    2026/06/29

    Adrian Hates FIFA

    This is going to be a short one because Germany and Paraguay are tied 1-1 in the knockout round, and unlike Adrian, I have not developed “Football Avoidance Syndrome.” I love the World Cup because, as FIFA puts it, “Football unites the world.” Or “European Football,” as mega-influencer IShowSpeed refers to it. I still can’t believe he isn’t getting rolled for that.

    On Friday’s show, our recurring international correspondent (and my good friend from my Argentina days) journalist Adrian Bono, founder of The Bubble, joined us from Madrid. Lauren was still on the go and tapping in from LaGuardia, and I’m getting antsy in Lisbon waiting for my residency card. Everything they say about the backlog with Portugal’s immigration system is true.

    We’re in three different countries but had similar thoughts on JD Vance’s affection for his wife’s knee, but very different thoughts on everything else.

    Less than halfway through the episode, a few things became clear:

    * Lauren needs to know if the rest of the world hates all of us, or just some of us. As an American living in Europe, I often find myself reminding people that as a Black woman in America, I’m just a second-class citizen. Do not blame me! Adrian’s answer was somewhat helpful.

    * Spain doesn’t hate us specifically, but they do hate our president. According to polls, the Spanish distrust Donald Trump more than they distrust Putin. Yes, THEE Putin, a Russian autocrat and war criminal with a history of offing people who oppose him.

    * No one is buying this “everyone loves Ranch” propaganda. ICYMI: There are far too many “the World loves American culture, especially ranch” videos going viral during the opening weeks of the World Cup. It feels a bit suspicious and a little too specific. But for our ranch-loving European friends, here is a highly regarded Ranch dressing recipe that we have not tested out because no one on Team AYGT loves Ranch like that.

    * Adrian hates water. More specifically, Adrian hates that FIFA has mandated hydration breaks every 22 minutes to sell more commercials. But to that I say, we should lean in. The world should have hydration breaks. I love water, and I use the hydration breaks to get snacks.

    We also got into the JD Vance knee slap that feels like a precursor to a divorce, Usha’s political journey from Democrat to robot storyteller, Spain’s reaction to the UFC fight night on the White House lawn, the bipartisan housing bill Trump is holding hostage, and Lauren’s extremely informed wedding-planner theory about why the Taylor Swift Madison Square Garden rumor is probably a diversion.

    Imagine being so rich you can set up a diversion for your wedding, or being so famous that you’d even need to.

    Adrian is officially recurring now! He’ll join us again soon from Madrid, where he’s currently bracing for 2 million people at the biggest Pride in Europe next weekend. Happy Pride, friend.

    The Germany-Paraguay game is still 1-1 and now in extra time. It’s going to penalty kicks. But will we get a hydration break before that???

    See you Friday.

    Maya & Lauren



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mayaonstage.substack.com
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    48 分
  • We're Getting Screw(worm)ed by the Love Bomber in Chief | America, You Got This?

    We're Getting Screw(worm)ed by the Love Bomber in Chief | America, You Got This?
    2026/06/08
    This week’s episode was supposed to be about the screwworm invasion, which, in case you missed it, is a flesh-eating parasite eradicated from the US since the 1960s that’s now back in Texas because Trump fired thousands of people at the agency that prevented it. It’s already screwing cattle farmers in Texas. Lauren pointed out that the MAHA moms in love with beef tallow have been suspiciously quiet. I still am not entirely sure what beef tallow is. Is that a fancy name for lard? I refuse to Google this. Ok, I’ll Google this. *Quickly Googles*Turns out lard is from pigs and tallow is from cows. I guess the MAHA moms will have to put lard on their faces. But I digress, which is something we do (by design) on our show because that’s how we stay sane and present. It’s a meandering journey, and we hope you’re enjoying it with us because we’re having a blast. Lauren was on the go this week for NetRoots in Philadelphia and TrendingUp Con, and I survived a week in my new apartment with no hot water. Moving to Portugal and living in a foreign language means that sometimes things, like connecting the gas, can get lost in translation. What wasn’t lost on me was the fact that Greg Bovino was also in Portugal, headlining a European far-right conference dedicated to the white nationalist mission of Remigration. Two Americans in the same foreign country, VERY different visions of the future. On Lauren’s flight to DC last week, she had an interesting encounter with her seatmate: a MAGA-coded, ivermectin-curious, Agricultural lobbyist. She told him exactly what she was headed to DC to do (be progressive AF), and the conversation shifted to Illinois politics, and he told her, unprompted, how much he loves Julianna Stratton — Illinois’ lieutenant governor, who just won the Democratic Senate primary. He said, “She’s what real leadership looks like.” The cynic in me was ready to call BS, but Lauren listened and had the epiphany that he sounded like someone in the early stages of realizing they’re in an abusive relationship.And that is exactly what Trump’s relationship with his base is. The problem is he’s not just their President. He’s our President too, and we are suffering at the hands of a malignant narcissist. Lauren has been saying this since 2016, when watching him campaign gave her panic attacks because his behaviors looked exactly like the behaviors of someone she used to know. I had a similar experience. Back in 2022, I interviewed psychiatrist Dr. Bandy X Lee, who edited the 2017 book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump. It’s a whole damn book about Trump being a malignant narcissist and the effects it would have on our collective consciousness. Trump was a walking red flag. The psychiatrists broke with medical tradition and tried to sound the alarm, but their advice was largely ignored. Here is the cycle:Love bombing. Years of campaigning, where he tells his base everything they want to hear. I am your retribution. I alone can fix it. You’re the forgotten men and women. He positions himself as the protector. They’re after you, and I’m the one standing in their way. He is so convincing. He is so charming in the exact way they need him to be charming.The hook. They give him everything. Their votes. Their loyalty. Their flags. Their family Thanksgivings. They break ties with loved ones until they’re surrounded by other people who have also given their votes, their loyalty, their flags. The discard. Now that Trump has what he wanted, he doesn’t need his base anymore. The tariffs hurt the farmers who put him in office. The war in Iran hurts the people who were screaming about high gas prices when Biden was in office. Beef is about to triple in price, and the man who promised them cheaper groceries is pardoning insider traders and hosting a UFC cage match on the South Lawn. DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender): Trump’s policies fail, and he denies it. He attacks anyone who points out the obvious. He claims that Republicans are the victims of election fraud and that Democrats are the offenders. This is just what he did to Kristen Welker on Meet the Press over the weekend. Anyone who dares to question Trump and his policies is crooked or stupid. He is the victim. The perpetrators are anyone who doesn’t agree with him. This is what narcissistic abuse looks like, and anyone who has been targeted by a narcissist knows it on sight. While it’s often said that his base is in a cult, it could also be argued that they are victims of his narcissistic abuse, and that’s why they are clinging to him, despite the fact that he is not fulfilling his campaign promises. He outright denies having promised no new wars, as reported in this Hill article.As the lies pile up, his base starts to lose faith in the original lie: that he cared about them at all. What’s worse is that Trump almost seems to delight in letting them know how little he cares. When he was running...
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    42 分
  • Can We Agree to Disagree on That DNC Tweet? | America, You Got This?

    Can We Agree to Disagree on That DNC Tweet? | America, You Got This?
    2026/06/01

    Happy Monday. I just moved this weekend, which means I am surrounded by boxes, living off of potato chips and ibuprofen, and unwilling to spend a whole lotta energy litigating one tweet.

    But here we are.

    On Friday’s show, we had Marcia Baumgardner, a Texas teacher, a good human, and an online voice calling on us not to say things like “STFU!” It should be no surprise that we did not land in the same place on the DNC’s now-famous “Shut up, you ugly fuck” reply to Stephen Miller. But it’s not the conclusion, it’s how we came to it without shredding each other that matters.

    In case you missed it: Miller posted a transphobic attack on James Talarico, who’s running against Ken Paxton in Texas. (Paxton is impeached, indicted, has multiple mistresses, and is somehow the GOP nominee. On brand.) The DNC clapped back. The internet split. So did we.

    Our Takes

    Marcia: You can fight hard and still keep your civility. The DNC account is a leadership position. Leadership sets an example. And the data is clear—inflammatory rhetoric is quantifiably heavier on the right. We don’t have to match it.

    Me: I’ve been with the Lincoln Project since 2021, partly because they say “STFU” when someone needs a “STFU.” And as a stand-up comedian, we learn that different hecklers merit different responses. Stephen Miller isn’t the sweet drunk in the front row trying to be a part of the show; he’s the ugly f*ck trying to ruin the show for everyone else.

    Lauren: Republicans pride themselves on being the moral party, but are acting immorally. If Democrats can model better behavior, we can be that for them. That being said, protesters literally threw dildos at ICE, and that, too, is a strategy. There are lanes. Some are weirder than others.

    Where we landed: different lanes are fine. Activists punch. Comedians punch. The official DNC account, probably not the punching lane.

    Not gonna lie, I keep playing this conversation over and over again in my head. And I’m not jazzed about it because my attention is finite and I’d rather do something else with it. Yes, we should talk about our differences on the left. Yes, those conversations matter. That’s the entire reason we had Marcia on. But we are running on limited energy (at least I know I am!), and that energy should be aimed at the people who are actively making us miserable, not at each other over a single tweet. In other words, AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THIS! All energy should be directed to stopping the people who wake up every day with the goal of dismantling the agencies that protect our rights, while strengthening the agencies that take them away.

    Speaking of rights.

    If racism, bigotry, mass deportation, attacks on trans kids, and a tanking economy are not dealbreakers for Republican voters, why would a casual STFU from the DNC be?

    Who the f*ck is this audience we keep performing politeness for?

    I’ve been talking about this for years. They don’t exist. They have not existed for some time. As my former co-host Trygve Olson likes to remind us, to beat fascists we have to “play the game we’re in.”

    So debate it. Disagree about it. We sure did. Then let it go and get back to the work.

    Lauren is in DC and Philly this week for Netroots. I’m in Lisbon, where they’re having another general strike. Field reports incoming! Subscribe if you don’t want to miss them.

    See you on Friday.

    Maya & Lauren



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mayaonstage.substack.com
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    1 時間 3 分
  • Tulsi Gabbard Out and Under the Bus! (And Lauren called it) | America, You Got This?

    Tulsi Gabbard Out and Under the Bus! (And Lauren called it) | America, You Got This?
    2026/05/23

    We went live on Friday morning and assumed we could spend the afternoon decompressing. WRONG!!! By the time I got back from a walk, Tulsi Gabbard had resigned. It’s almost like Lauren felt it in the air.

    SPOILER ALERT: She did.

    Here is what Lauren said on the record, before the news broke:

    “Your proximity to these people is not going to protect you at any point. Like as a woman, if you are aligning with these people and you are harming other women and you are harming marginalized communities….that doesn’t keep you protected. It just maybe pushes you a little further down the list.”

    She was talking about Pam Bondi and Kristi Noem. Six hours later, Tulsi Gabbard was under the bus.

    In case you’re not keeping track.

    * Kristi Noem. Out in March!

    * Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Out in April!

    * Pam Bondi. Fired in April!

    * Tulsi Gabbard. “Resigned” yesterday!

    Four cabinet members out in five months. All four women. Every single one.

    Gabbard’s stated reason is her husband’s cancer diagnosis. That is real, and we wish her and her family well. But the math is mathing: women in this cabinet are not safe.

    And yet women keep aligning themselves with the Trump administration. We try to get to the bottom of that in this episode, and how we can reach the ones who seem unreachable.

    Pattern recognition is something that we excel at, so join us every Friday for more predictions that will absolutely come true.

    Watch Friday’s episode. The bus moment is at 30:00. The MAHA moms’ conversation is at 36:00.

    Forward this to someone in your life who still thinks that Trump loves and protects women.

    See you Friday!

    Maya & Lauren



    This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mayaonstage.substack.com
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    44 分
  • Do we need gummies for this?

    Do we need gummies for this?
    2026/05/18
    “Racism is very expensive, and I don’t think America can afford it anymore.” I said that to Lauren on Friday’s show, somewhere in a conversation about gummies, maternal mortality rates, and European MRIs. Yes. We need gummies for this, but I’m gummyphobic for a lot of reasons that I talk about in the show. If you’re new here: I’m Maya. I’m a stand-up comic, I’m a mom, I’m in Lisbon, and I just launched a Friday morning show called America, You Got This? The question mark is doing a lot of work. I have been watching America from abroad…and I’m concerned.My new co-host is the ever effervescent Lauren Lehman Carter. She’s in Chicagoland (near my hometown!) by way of Indiana. She’s adequately babied and has an interdisciplinary degree in public relations and vocal jazz. She was not impressed with my scatting or my attempt to channel Billie Holiday. She’s witchy. I’m woo-woo. We have similar eyes. We decided we knew each other in a past life and were obviously meant to be doing exactly what we’re doing right now: hosting America, You Got This?We’re calling it a lifestyle show, which is the joke and also not. It’s a lifestyle show because we are two women (one GenX, one elder millennial) trying to live a life under a repressive government that just wants us to reproduce and then STFU. So we’re also talking about how to survive and dare we say…thrive in this system. It’s a thrive-style show! Every Friday. With sparkle.Some notes from the show…we talk about healthcare costs in Argentina, where I became “adequately babied,” in Portugal, where I am now, and in the US, where Lauren is, and costs are….well, you already know…sky friggin high with no relief in sight. The ReceiptsHere is what my healthcare costs me in Portugal:* €83 a month for private insurance* €20 copay for a specialist appointment with a sports orthopedist* €100 copay for an MRI, scheduled five days after I asked for it…* Roughly €1,000 a yearHere is what my healthcare cost me in California, three years ago, on a Blue Shield silver plan:* $1,200 a month for my daughter and me* $10,000 maximum out-of-pocket* Most things still came out of pocket anyway* Roughly $18,000–$19,000 a year, give or take, because I’m bad at mathI relocated to Portugal for many reasons, but partly because America priced me out. Lauren’s numbers are different and also the same. Two babies, both with hospital stays:* First baby: a week in the NICU. Hit the $10K max out-of-pocket.* Second baby: $3K for the C-section. Then, at three weeks old, he got RSV and spent a week in the hospital. Another $10K.She paid roughly $23,000 to have her family. We talk a lot in this country about being “under-babied.” Nobody talks about how much it costs to have the babies we already have.I don’t like talking about Black women dyingBut we’re dying. Here’s a recent Huff Post article about the maternal mortality rate if you’d like to familiarize yourself with just how many Black women are unnecessarily dying in the US. In the United States, Black women die in childbirth at 44.8 per 100,000 live births. White women die at 14.2 per 100,000. (CDC). My daughter was born in Argentina in 2007, where the maternal mortality rate at the time was 33 per 100,000. So while I didn’t know it at the time, it was safer for me to give birth in Buenos Aires, in a foreign language, on a foreign continent, thousands of miles away from home. It was cheaper too. I went there because I could not afford to have a baby in America, let alone raise one. Argentina reserves parking spaces and has priority grocery store lines for pregnant women. Strangers asked me if I planned to breastfeed. Invasive, sure, but also wow! My insurance was $200 a month and covered everything, prenatal, postnatal. EVERYTHING. The nurses asked if I wanted to stay another day because I looked tired. I said yes. I stayed.My friend from college didn’t have any of that. She had access to “adequate care,” in the language of American healthcare. She died anyway. You cannot have this conversation without the historical part, so here it is: American gynecology was built on the bodies of enslaved Black women, operated on without anesthesia. Read about Dr. James Marion Sims, the so-called “father of modern gynecology,” who experimented on enslaved Black women. So….Do We Need Gummies For This?Lauren says yes, sometimes, cut in half, after the kids are asleep, ideally, a strain that turns the dreams off. I say I’m still raw-dogging fascism, and trying to survive with a cocktail of boxing, meditation, and screaming into the void.Lauren and I are going to do this every week. Live on Fridays on Instagram and YouTube. Subscribe if you want to join us. Share if you know someone who needs it. Comment with your own healthcare horror story, gummy recommendation, or both! Is it America, you got this? Or America, you got this! This week, it’s somewhere in between. We...
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    47 分