The primary focus of this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds is the assertion by Josh and Tom that being labeled "racist" is so damaging in society that mainstream media outlets won't even note when someone is a different religion or race in their news coverage, even when it is important to the story. This came up in the context of the recent attempted attack on an anti-Muslim protest in NYC. Ryan isn't fully convinced by this and eventually argues that it is perfectly acceptable to single out a small group of people who are a subset of a nationality or race or religion and say they are a problem for specific, contextual reasons, but not to broaden that to an entire group of people. We discuss immigrant crime statistics in relation to this. We then briefly discuss what appears to be widespread insider trading among politicians based on a story about Markwayne Mullin. There's also a bonus debate at the beginning about sea shanties, whether the awful chant by White Pine Riots counts, and whether it is a racist or anti-immigrant song.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, Tom, Josh, and Ryan discuss the war in Iran that the US has entered with Israel. We discuss the justification for the war, how it seems to be going, and, most importantly, what we think the likely outcome will be. There is a lot of agreement. We all agree that Khameini was a horrible dictator. We all agree that the timing is off. We all agree that the likely outcome will be a failed state governed by anarchy and probably warlords. We don't agree on whether it was the right thing: Josh and Tom lean in favor of that, while Ryan leans against it.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, Ryan, Josh, and Tom are joined by Jake and Hunter. We discuss Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), Canada's program that allows people who meet specific criteria to have the help of a physician to end their lives. Josh is adamantly opposed to this and is unwilling to budge at all, even in pretty obvious cases, like if someone is very old, has a terminal diagnosis, and is going to spend their remaining few months in excruciating pain. The rest of the panelists fall on a spectrum, from Ryan, who fully embraces this (closely followed by Jake), to Hunter and Tom, who don't love it, but respect people's autonomy. Josh brings up gray cases to criticize the practice, which is useful to show that any policy can be problematic. Intriguingly, some panelists suggest their real concern is that it is a government program, and that they would trust it more if it were privatized, you know, like a big-box wholesaler!

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we have two new panelists: Jake and Hunter. They are Millennials! We invited them on to give them an opportunity to talk about the challenges of trying to make it in the US in 2026, given the economic situation with expensive housing, high interest rates, inflation, and general expenses. Jake and Hunter both indicate that there is a YOLO attitude among Millennials that is tied to their perception that it isn't possible for them to succeed, so they are living it up to the extent they can without regard for debt. They both also note that some of this is social media's influence and the desire for immediate gratification, and people's unwillingness to struggle and suffer for a while to skimp, save, and eventually build up enough savings to buy a home and stabilize their lives. Even so, it does seem as though there are serious impediments to building wealth for younger generations. We discuss possible causes and consequences.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we start with a lengthy discussion of the kidnapping of Maduro and his wife from Venezuela. We tackle this from multiple perspectives. We start by noting this is not about drugs. Even if Maduro is convicted, everyone knows that the drug trafficking charges are tangential to why this actually happened. We recognize that the plan went well from a military and precision standpoint. We note that, from Trump's standpoint, this was primarily about gaining access to the largest oil reserves in the world and not about liberating the Venezuelan people from a dictator (though Josh insists it's also because Maduro taunted him). We also discuss the moral calculus of roughly 100 people dying; if it were to liberate Venezuela, possibly justified; if it is so the US can gain access to oil, this is deplorable. Ergo, it's likely deplorable, and the CEOs of the oil companies who are greedily sitting on the sidelines watching the US military do their bidding are morally bankrupt pieces of shit. We also discuss whether a precision removal of a government leader is preferable to a full-scale ground invasion (probably). Ryan then raises the question of whether the US has now made this kind of attack on sovereign nations acceptable, meaning another country can do this to the US, and we can't argue that it's not allowed, since we did it. Finally, we discuss the "Donroe Doctrine," which is based on the 2025 National Security Strategy. Basically, the strategy is that the world is now divided up into regions, and the US doesn't care what China and Russia do in their regions as long as the US gets the Western Hemisphere and can do what it wants within that region, which is why Trump is claiming to own the oil in Venezuela. We end with a rather pointless discussion of the latest ICE shooting in Minnesota. Josh tries to convince Ryan of FAFO and that taunting people with guns increases the odds you'll get shot. Ryan is already convinced of this, so we just go in circles for a ridiculous amount of time. (Apologies to our listeners.) In a post-podcast discussion, we realize that Josh was really trying to suggest that left-wing media are encouraging people to mess with ICE and then holding up those who get shot as martyrs. He is bothered by this and doesn't want to see more people get shot. Ryan points out that left-leaning media are not telling people to aggravate ICE, though he does see how some left-leaning media outlets are depicting those who were shot as heroes.

In this episode of Finding Common Battle Grounds, we tackle three topics. We start with a discussion of Zohran Mamdani's election as Mayor of New York City. Josh and Tom are really disturbed that so many people were willing to elect a democratic socialist. Ryan is fine with it. When pressed, Josh and Tom seem to be okay with some of the specific actions Mamdani wants to take (e.g., free child care), though not all of them (e.g., rent control and free buses). But their bigger concern is that they think democratic socialism is a slippery slope into communism, which Ryan points out is not the case (c.f. every other developed country on the planet). Ultimately, we agree that Mamdani won't be able to institute most of the changes he wants because of the oligarchs who really run the US. Josh then dropped a surprise topic on us: White Christian Nationalism. We ignore the "white" in this label and focus on Christian Nationalism. Ryan explains what it means: that you prioritize your nation above all others AND believe that your nation should be Christian. The implication is that anyone other than Christians will be second-class citizens without equal rights to Christians. Josh and Tom seem fine with that, even when Ryan directly confronts them and asks them if they think he should not have the same rights they have. They seemed reluctant to answer that question directly. Finally, we turned to the bombing of boats off the coast of Venezuela by the US military. Ryan brought this up because it is illegal, unethical, and reflects the shocking level of moral depravity of Pete Hegseth and the Trump Administration; they are gleefully killing people without a trial to demonstrate their guilt. Josh agrees it is wrong, but only because it is really just an attempt to start a war or regime change in Venezuela. Tom thinks it's fine to send a message to drug traffickers (even though roughly 2% of drugs that enter the US come from Venezuela). Ryan cannot fathom how someone can believe they should have the authority to take other people's lives when they are not being violently attacked (perhaps he's becoming a pacifist as a result of this podcast).