A Texas school board got so spooked by a girl playing the male lead in Little Shop of Horrors that they canceled the whole show and tried to swap it for Frozen. Their legal justification shifted citations mid-scandal, from the 2023 drag ban to a 2025 parental-rights bill, and somehow neither one actually says what they claim it says. Now the 17-year-old they benched is suing in federal court, and Lydia walks through the complaint line by line. Spoiler: Title IX did not get the memo that musical theater is supposed to be scary this year.

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Elon Musk told Joe Rogan that California made it illegal to show ID to vote. Rogan ran with it, Rand Paul repeated it, and now it's a ballot fight. Lydia walks through what California's 2024 law, SB 1174, actually does: it stops cities and counties from adding their own voter ID rules, and that's it. Then she digs into the voter ID initiative headed for California's ballot, the conservative activist and podcaster Carl DeMaio behind it, the big-money donors on the "yes" side, and what the measure would really require. Thomas and Lydia also check governor candidate Steve Hilton's version of the story. Patrons: our bonus with Noah Lugeons on the Ben Shapiro review takedown is up now.

Sources:

• California Senate Bill 1174 (2024), signed September 29, 2024

• The proposed California voter ID ballot initiative led by Carl DeMaio

• The Joe Rogan Experience episodes with Elon Musk and Rand Paul

If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com.

Correction: An earlier version had Thomas saying George Santos was a Democrat. Thomas was able to recognize his mistake after only a fact check. Also, he must have been thinking of Bob Menendez or something.

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Remember Public Square, the self-declared "anti-woke Amazon" that promised conservatives shopping without funding a rainbow flag? Yeah that didn't work. But not for lack of trying! Lydia has the history and also the business that DID work out: infinite grift and corruption.

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WTW150 and we're celebrating with Bari Weiss's baby, the University of Austin (UATX), which wants you to know it's a "Renegade Academy" with FREEDOM, rigor, and merit. You sure about that? Lydia brings the receipts on the money, the exits, and one very questionable man with a million dollars and a fondness for wiring it places. Also, look closely at the chessboard in their ad. Just look.

Sources:

• Politico: UATX exposé on the April 2025 all-hands meeting, faculty departures, and the student expulsion
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: University of Austin IRS Form 990s
• 60 Minutes: segment on the University of Austin
• Steven Pinker's statements on resigning from the UATX advisory board
• Coverage of the John Robison fraud conviction

If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com.

Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke! You get ad-free episodes and patron-only bonus episodes.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is a legit nut job. But don't worry, he's platforming EVEN NUTTIER jobs. Like this random church lady who can't stop banning books.

If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com.

Dan Scavino's wife who has absolutely no experience in art whatsoever definitely got her job as "person in charge of all art worldwide at every US Embassy" for completely merit-based reasons. Why would you even insinuate otherwise? Anyway she's tearing paintings off the walls if they're too... not a US flag.

If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com.

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A grab bag of woke panics this week, and Lydia has receipts for all of them. Seattle's interim police chief said "trigger pullers" at a press conference, and conservative media decided this was a brand new woke euphemism. You sure about that? Then: Nike fell out of the S&P 100 and everyone is blaming DEI. What does the actual JP Morgan analysis say? What does a brand-new study on "go woke, go broke" say? What does Steven Crowder say? And finally, Florida brought back the "Gator Bait" chant, a YouTuber said the history is fake, and Thomas has thoughts about institutional cowardice.

Sources:

• ATF press release: Montana Baronet "trigger puller" Baltimore gang prosecution (U.S. Department of Justice / ATF)

• CNN: ATF use of "trigger puller" as repeat-offender category (2018)

• Nike Annual Report (2026)

• Markets Do Not Punish Firms for Maintaining DEI (Folsz & Grumbach, 8/14/2026)

• Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University: "Gator Bait" materials

If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com.

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Jordan Peterson wrote a very long article for The Telegraph about climate change. He has a study. Well, sort of. He has a reference to a study that he didn't bother to link, that doesn't say what he claims it says, and whose own authors explicitly warned against the exact conclusions he's drawing. Thomas and Lydia dig into the actual paper so you don't have to, and the gap between what Peterson claims and what the research found is, let's say, notable.

Sources:

• Jordan Peterson, "Net Zero Alarmism Is a Mental Illness" (The Telegraph, 2025)

• Jordan Peterson, climate article referenced in episode (The Telegraph)

• "Understanding Left-Wing Authoritarianism: Relations to the Dark Personality Traits, Altruism and Social Justice Commitment" (Crispins & Bertrams, Current Psychology, 2023)

• "Higher Narcissism Is Associated with Greater Involvement in Feminist Activism" (Crispins & Bertrams)

• Will Self response piece debunking Peterson's climate article

• NASA: Global Surface Temperature Record

If you enjoy our work, please consider leaving a 5-star review! You can always email questions, comments, and leads to lydia@seriouspod.com.

Please pretty please consider becoming a patron at patreon.com/wherethereswoke!