We Can Do Hard Things

This conversation will stay with you. When Glennon and her son Chase sit down with his hero, Ocean Vuong, something shifts: mothering reveals itself as more than a role—it’s a force that finds our kids through books, voices, and people who see them when we can’t.

A raw, beautiful conversation about raising boys, surviving what shapes us, and the quiet truth every parent carries: we don’t do this alone.

- How art and connection can “mother” us

- What boys are taught about survival—and how that’s changing

- The moment a child feels truly seen

- How grief opens us to deeper human connection

- Gratitude for the ones who help raise our kids

About Ocean: 

Ocean Vuong, author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds, and the New York Times bestselling novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a recipient of the 2019 MacArthur "Genius Grant" and the winner of the Whiting Award and the T. S. Eliot Prize. In Time Is a Mother, Ocean's newest poetry collection available now, he reckons with his mother’s death, embodying the paradox of sitting within grief while being determined to survive beyond it. His writings have been featured in The Atlantic, Harper's Magazine, The Nation, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, he currently lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. 

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Why is he building a massive secret bunker?!?!

In today’s jaw-dropping deep dive, Amanda follows the money—and the secrets—behind a $400 million White House ballroom, and what is hiding beneath it. What starts as a flashy construction project unravels into a story about power, secrecy, and the dangerous things that happen when no one is watching.

With democracy advocate Jon Golinger, Amanda goes past the headlines to ask the real question: What is this really about—and who is paying for it?

- Why the “ballroom” might not be about a ballroom at all

- The shocking discovery of a massive underground bunker—and why it matters

- How anonymous corporate ballroom “donors” may be shaping government decisions

- What happens when oversight disappears—and who pays the price

- The bigger question: What are we being told and what’s being hidden

This one isn’t just about politics. It’s about truth, power, and what we’re willing to question.

Also: In this episode, Jon talks about a hotline run by House Democrats for National Parks Employees who may wish to share information about the White House Ballroom Project that concerns them. Here it is: https://democrats-naturalresources.house.gov/contact/tipline

About Jon: 

Jon Golinger serves as the Democracy Advocate for Public Citizen, one of the country’s leading government accountability watchdog organizations. Jon and Public Citizen sued to expose the secret agreement funding the President's ballroom project through anonymous private funders. Jon has devoted his career to exposing how corporate dollars shape public policy, pushing for campaign finance reform, and holding elected officials and institutions accountable. Prior to joining Public Citizen, Jon was an Assistant District Attorney and Investigator in the Special Prosecutions Unit of the White Collar Crime Division in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office where he led criminal investigations into public corruption. 

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Today, we’re sharing our conversation with poet Ross Gay, who reminds us that joy isn’t denial—it’s connection. Not a way out of the world, but a way back into it. Together, we explore how to keep noticing what’s still beautiful, how to rebuild our “delight muscle,” and why witnessing someone else’s joy might be exactly what brings us back to ourselves.

- Why joy is evidence of connection—not escapism

- How to rebuild your “delight muscle” (even when it feels gone)

- The surprising power of witnessing someone else’s joy

- Why “unknowing” the people you love can deepen connection

- Small, daily practices to feel less alone and more alive

About Ross: 

Ross Gay is an American poet, essayist, and professor committed to healing the world through observing and articulating joy, delight and gratitude. He won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for his 2014 book, Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude, which was also a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry. A devoted community gardener, Ross is a founding board member of the Bloomington Community Orchard, a non-profit, free-fruit-for-all food justice and joy project. A college football player, he is a founding editor of the online sports magazine Some Call it Ballin'. 

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We woke up to a Webby — and instead of just celebrating, we started asking: What does it mean to actually use your voice right now?

Today, we’re talking about what building Treat Media has really meant — why we chose to go independent, what we’ve gained (and risked), and why having no middleman changes everything about what we can say and how we can say it.

And make sure you’ve listened to Tuesday’s episode: Who is Enabling Trump? Amanda & (Our Next Pres?) Rep. Ro Khanna Name the Culprits and the Plan. We dig into Amanda’s conversation with Rep. Ro Khanna — what we agreed with, what left us unsettled, and the bigger truth underneath it all: Why aren’t the people in power doing the jobs they swore to do?

This episode is about freedom, accountability, and what happens when you stop playing along.

- Why going independent, and creating Treat Media, changed everything for us

- What winning a Webby means — and what it doesn’t

- Why “good people” isn’t the same as good leadership

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Amanda is joined by Congressman Ro Khanna for a no-spin, call-it-like-it-is conversation about the dumpster fire of Trump and Congress.  

We already know who Trump is. The more urgent question is—why is Congress too cowardly to do its job to stop him?

Amanda and Rep. Khanna dig into:

– How both parties are failing us; 

– The big, dark money that is shaping their cowardice; 

– Which Democratic leaders need to go; 

– The midterm election interference we know is coming (and the plan to combat it); 

– What gives Rep. Khanna hope about a new generation of leadership; and

– Some exciting speculation about the 2028 Presidential campaign. 

This conversation is about moving past outrage and into action. What we demand. What we expect. And what must change.

About Ro Khanna:

A leader of action, courage and candor, Rep. Ro Khanna represents California’s 17th District and represents what is possible when an elected has a backbone and cares more about their duty than their next election. If you’ve been following my series here, and you listened to my show on the Billionaire class as the real American welfare queens, you will want to know about Rep. Khanna’s Make Billionaire’s Pay Their Fair Share Act with Senator Sanders. If you listened to my series walking through decades of depraved federal corruption protecting Epstein, you will know that it was Rep. Khanna’s dogged, intrepid resolve when everyone told him it was impossible, to pass his Epstein Transparency Act, together with Rep. Massie, which forced the administration to release files. If you listened to my episode on Jared Kushner and the real reasons we’re in an inane and inept war with Iran, you will want to know that Rep. Khanna sponsored a Bipartisan War Powers Resolution with Rep. Massie in an attempt to restrict unauthorized military action. He has taken on big oil for their lies about climate change and was crucial in bringing a coalition together to secure a $369 Billion climate investment. He is an advocate for oversight, anticorruption, transparency, and freeing elections from the scourge of big money influence. He puts his money where his mouth is: He cofounded the NO PAC Caucus and is one of only SEVEN out of 435 members of Congress who rejects all money from special interest PACs. And he brings the fight not only to actively complicit Republicans, but to Democrats who scream on social media but sit on their hands instead of doing what needs to be done.

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