This week’s Fact Check Dispatch breaks down a series of recent political and economic claims, including assertions about Thanksgiving dinner costs, Black Friday spending, redistricting battles, and election outcomes. Despite confident headlines, the data tells a different story. We examine how selective comparisons, inflation-blind metrics, and narrative framing are used to manufacture perceptions of economic strength and democratic legitimacy rather than reflect lived reality.

From there, the episode moves into a broader story through The Hunger Games. Beginning with societal collapse and resource scarcity, we trace how Panem rose from chaos, how the Capitol consolidated power, and how the district system was designed to engineer dependency and control. We examine the First Rebellion, the creation of the Hunger Games, and how punishment was transformed into ritualized entertainment that normalized fear and obedience.

The episode explores life inside the Capitol itself, focusing on extreme wealth, excess, and luxury, and how oligarchic insulation allows those at the top to remain detached from the suffering that sustains their power. We then examine how Katniss Everdeen’s defiance exposed the Capitol’s dependence on narrative control, showing how authoritarian systems fracture not through force alone, but when belief collapses.

The episode closes by connecting Panem’s systems of control to modern history, showing how spectacle, economic dependency, concentrated wealth, and crisis-driven governance have been used repeatedly to consolidate power — and why awareness, not violence, is often what ultimately breaks these systems.

Show Notes and Sources: Available at ⁠⁠www.wesidedwiththerebellion.com⁠⁠

Contact: ⁠⁠hello@wesidedwiththerebellion.com⁠⁠

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Disclaimer: This podcast is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Scholastic, Lionsgate, or any entity associated with The Hunger Games. Any references remain the property of their respective owners and are used for commentary and educational purposes only.

Silence serves the oppressor. Truth fuels the rebellion.