So what's going on, everyone? This is our first exclusive Empire Files podcast. For those who have been watching the show for a while, we usually release a podcast version of

the videos that we produce. But today we're doing something differently, given the circumstances

that unfolded on January 6th in Washington, D.C. Mike and I have recently moved. We are living

out of boxes right now, and we have not set up our new studio,

which accounts for the reverb that you're probably hearing in the room right now. So, you know,

that's why we wanted to do a podcast version. We're not able to produce content like we usually

would about any given subject. So we felt like this was an emergency and we haven't been all too happy

with the coverage that has come out about it. So we wanted to give our take. You know,

everyone that's been watching everything about this event unfold, you've probably seen everything

possible, right? You saw it happening probably live on national

television. You're probably wondering why would you listen to our podcast? What are we contributing?

Well, I think that you'll be happy that we have a lot to say and we have a unique analysis, we think.

And yeah, and this is also just available for patrons. This is part of an ongoing effort to make patron

exclusive content. We are not making enough money as of yet to produce the kind of quality content

that we want as rapidly as we want. We have a lot of plans for 2021 in terms of empire files,

what we want to do, and the staff that we want to build.

And that's going to take Patreon donations because that's what we base our show on, is donations from people like you, small donations.

So we really appreciate your support as little as $1, $2, $5 a month, whatever you can give.

We know that these are really tough times.

And unfortunately, we're at a place right now where we have to contribute directly to independent

media and alternative media that we want to see flourish because late stage capitalism, bro.

Hey, Abby.

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