It's Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

From Peachfish Productions, it's the gist I'm Mike Peska.

What's worse for a memorial day to endure?

Wet and rainy, up and down the East Coast,

or in danger of chemical explosion like they experienced in Southern California.

A race to stop a chemical tank from exploding in Southern California.

About 50,000 people south of Los Angeles are all under evacuation orders at this time.

Okay, evacuated and nearly exploded, that is the worst one, right?

But everyone in the New York area and New Jersey

and up through Massachusetts and way down to Florida, we all got rained on, whereas only

50,000 were evacuated. And what a story they have to tell. Plus, no one had much actual harm,

except maybe the stress induced when not barbecuing in the

sun of Southern California, but you did get to learn some chemistry terms.

It's a very scary intense situation.

The chemical is called methyl-metacrylate or MMA.

Okay, MMA.

So, you know, it's not like anything can happen.

No biting, no eye-gouging, no 12 to 6 elbow strikes. Could be worse. And the fact that it was next to Disneyland, that's kind of a Nick Cage movie or a Nick Cage match feel to it all, right? In the end, the leak dissipated. And in the words of fire officials, they were pretty sure that the pressurized tank would not experience a, quote, boiling, liquid, expanding vapor explosion, or a believe.

Because you know what I've always said, you got to believe. Or if you're one of the 50,000, you just got to leave. On the show today is spiel about the impossibility of really and truly overcoming

what is toxic or partisanship. But first, before the pessimism, a little bit of hope, I am joined

by Beth Mallow and Doug Teshner. They are the authors of Beyond the Politics of Contempt, Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Times.

My next guests are on the side of the Angels, in the case of one, a group called Braver Angels.

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