Welcome to Blockton reported. I'm Katie Herzlug and joining me today while Jesse is digging his

pussy hat out of storage. We have Ben Kowler. Ben is a writer and producer with the free press.

And listeners of this podcast might remember him from a special episode of

honestly, of their podcast that we aired where Ben went to Laramie, Wyoming to talk to people

about the true story behind Matthew Shepard's death. I love that episode. I was jealous that that

episode was not our episode. You're jealous that in honor of pride, you didn't get to go to Laramie and drag Matthew

Shepard's name through the mud?

That is my pride dream.

Yes.

Ben is also the host of the Free Press video series, Ben Meas America and the Swing State Debates.

And I'm so pleased to have him here for our post-election episode.

Ben, welcome to Blockton reported. Thank you, Katie. It's an

honor to be here. An honor. Okay. You don't have to lie. Well, you were my like entryway, the gateway

drug into the IDW. Into, uh, into Matthew Shepard, truthorism. And that's where I ended up,

that's where I wound up. Yeah, exactly. So thank you. Well, thank you for coming here. I really

appreciate it. You are the perfect person to talk to you today. I think Jesse is sobbing too hard to

actually have on this show. So I'm glad we have a real man to stand in. Oh, gosh, we're in trouble.

Yeah. So I have tried to make this a completely apolitical podcast. You have? I have. Like, apolitical in the sense that I don't

want to talk about Donna fucking Trump. But just for people who need a break from politics, hold on,

because the second half of the show, we're going to leave the election behind and get into some good,

old-fashioned, dumb internet bullshit. In fact, maybe the dumbest internet bullshit I've seen in some time.

It involves a failed reality TV start and not the one who is about to be back in the White House.

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