In today’s podcast – John discusses Congress averting a government shutdown just hours before the deadline. He plays clips of lawmakers commenting on the bill and the democrats who voted for it. Then, he interviews Esha Bhandari who is deputy director of the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, where she works on litigation and advocacy to protect freedom of expression and privacy rights in the digital age. They talk about the illegal arrest of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil – the ACLU is part of his defense team. Then finally, TV’s Frank Conniff is back to joke with listeners about the near shutdown, pop culture, and the evil doings of Trump.