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PODCAST

Engaged Citizen

Holly + Josh Hudley

Engaged Citizen is a podcast with Holly and Josh, a couple of ordinary people interested in helping you stay informed in a thoughtful and truthful way. We are saturated with news, so we will take three to four issues each week and discuss why they matter. We’ll end with a bright spot because people still show courage, compassion, and love!

society & culture news commentary

All Episodes

0:36

Episode 36 | the Multi-Headed Hydra

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/12/16

One of the things we talk about in this episode is stamina - how do we keep pressing for the kind of change we need to see in this country? How do we swing back toward democracy? Many are turning a blind eye to the lack of legal processes in our country right now, not least of all the Supreme Court. They are playing to a bully, but they are also getting a taste of power. We are a split population, but there is evidence that the bullies are losing popularity. There is evidence that the hydra is being

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00:30:00

Episode 35 | The Christian Thing To Do?

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/12/09

Though it’s been a couple of weeks, the Trump administration keeps on providing plenty of fodder for podcasts. The whole “let’s strike every boat coming out of Venezuela” strategy seems a great distraction to Trump’s growing unpopularity. When six democratic lawmakers pleaded to the military to remain faithful to the Constitution rather than a despot, Trump called for these people to be executed. Ummmm, what do we call an act of sedition called for by the president himself?? This is from the

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00:38:35

Episode 34 | The Saga Continues

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/11/18

Amidst a democratic victory in the special elections, the current elected Democrats joined with Republicans to reopen the government, with the promise of a vote on healthcare forthcoming. While SNAP benefits have been restored, the rollout is slow and varies by state. ICE continues to rampage cities and traumatize residents. Amidst all of this, a push to release the complete Epstein files continues. While we recorded, Trump issued a statement to the Republicans to release them, which implies that

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00:40:04

Episode 33 | “The Cruelty is the Point”

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/11/04

“The cruelty is the point" was coined by Adam Serwer, a staff writer for The Atlantic Magazine, in his October 2018 essay of the same name. It became a widely used catchphrase to describe the political approach and policies of the Trump administration. Defunding food programs for the poor, withholding pay from government employees, especially the ones the president doesn’t like, and limiting asylum to a few thousand people a year is cruel. There is a delight this administration takes in punishing

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00:39:36

Episode 32 | A Broken House

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/10/28

In the language of dreams, houses symbolize the dreamer’s psyche or inner world. The state of the house — be it chaotic, old, in disrepair, clean, bright, or dark — reflects what might be going on for the dreamer. If we externalize this symbol into the waking world, we might say our house is broken. Quite literally, the White House, a symbol of democracy, has been busted open, and its gilded power has been expanded without process or approval. Dump trucks are carrying debris from the grounds early

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00:40:00

Episode 31 | No Kings

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/10/21

On Saturday, October 18, around 7 million (MILLION!) people marched around the country to support “No Kings Day.” Whether we realize it or not, the protests stretch all the way back to England circa 1215. King John signed the Magna Carta in Runnymede in support of the principle that everyone, including the king, was subject to the law. It introduced key concepts like the right to a fair trial, due process, and protection from arbitrary rule that would inform the US Constitution a few centuries

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00:33:45

Episode 30 | “What’s Going On”

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/10/07

Somehow Marvin Gay’s epic song feels like an appropriate soundtrack to this week’s podcast. What’s going on in our country needs our attention. As ICE is being employed as Trump’s personal paramilitary, as recruitment for it increases and gets ever more lucrative, and as the Texas National Guard makes its way to Illinois, we ought to be singing along. We ought to be flooding the streets. We need to resist by staying informed, supporting causes for freedom, justice, and democracy, and documenting

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00:47:14

Episode 29 | NSPM - 7

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/09/30

Amidst all else that is getting media attention, Trump and his team managed to sign a little-noticed national security directive intended to target “radical left violence” or anything that is anti-Trump. Both individuals and institutions can be targeted if you indicate any of the following behaviors now identified as “violent:” anti-American (what it means to be an American is not clearly defined) anti-Christian (read: anti-Christian Nationalism) anti-Capitalist support for the overthrow of the

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00:45:31

Episode 28 | Free speech & Repsonsibility

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/09/21

It’s impossible to avoid talking about the ugliness of political violence in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Whether we agree with him or not, there is no justification for shooting him. For us, as we are greeted with a barrage of repsonses to his death, the issue that rises to the top is around free speech. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the

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00:47:17

Episode 27 | Facing Hopelessness

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/09/09

I know this episode's title is dire. The truth is that we are in a dire situation, we are facing hopelessness, and Josh and I believe we can’t go to sleep on it. I know many of us want to go on about our day to avoid feeling perpetually stressed. To a degree, this is okay—take in what you can and stand in where you can. But going to sleep on what is happening may inadvertently cause harm. How can we attend to reality without being consumed by it?

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00:37:00

Episode 26 | Rep. Ann Johnson, Badass

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/09/01

This whole episode is embedded in good news—and if not overtly fluffy good news, it's inspired by a fierce and compassionate woman who is quickly becoming my local hero: Rep. Ann Johnson. She is in league with Abraham Lincoln, who jumped from a 2nd story window in 1840 to break quorum, and with Professor Dumbledore, who disapparated to protest the asinine Minister of Magic in Harry Potter 5: The Order of the Phoenix.

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00:40:03

Episode 25 | A Language Problem or a Moral One?

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/08/26

We spend a few moments updating voter redistricting, our numbness to violence, and the uptick in cities threatening to be taken over by the military. We also discuss a conservative viewpoint expressed by David Brooks and others that the “nihilism” of the right is, in part, caused by highfalutin leftist language and ideas around equity and inclusion. We are curious what listeners think. Article linked in show notes.

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00:47:33

Episode 24 | Entering the Zone of Militarization

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/08/21

In this episode, we talk about the militarization of the D.C. area as Trump moves the National Guard in, voter redistricting in Texas, and the impact of White Christian Nationalism on our society. We wonder what rights to resist the military/law enforcement have if they perceive an injustice is occurring. We commend the dissent of the Texas Democrats. As of our recording, the vote in Texas had not been passed. As of this upload, the vote to reorganize voting districts has been passed. A lot can

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00:43:08

Episode 23 | Thinking with ‘We’ in Mind

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/08/05

Our aim here is to help us consider that what is happening in our country politically and socially impacts the whole project of democracy. Today, we talk through voter redistricting, the quieter, more sinister goings on based on the Epstein Files, and several institutions that continue to “obey in advance” in order to capitalize on federal funding. In return, the Trump administration is scrutinizing these institutions even more.

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00:52:49

Episode 22 | The Stirring of a star

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/07/23

The title of this podcast comes from an 1893 Francis Thompson poem that reads, “Near or far, to each other linked are, that thou canst not stir a flower without troubling of a star. All things interconnected are.” The underlying message, then, is that we are all connected. Nothing that happens to one of us can occur without affecting all of us subtly and directly. The three topics we cover this week are the ongoing dehumanizing treatment of our immigrant community, voting redistricting plans in

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00:47:17

Episode 21 | Flooded

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/07/15

We are in an era of feeling flooded - both literally and figuratively, emotionally and politically. We give time to talking about the flood along the Guadalupe River in Texas and the deep reality of grief that many are facing. We offer some resources to help those who might be suffering, like Bo’s Place in Houston. Then we turn to an increase in ICE raids across the country. Congress just passed the “Big Beautiful Bill” which provides huge amounts of money for the war against immigration.

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00:41:00

Engaged Citizen 20 | Patriotism & Courage

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/06/24

We are at the end of Timothy Snyder’s book as a guide. Using the final chapters, we talk about the difference between patriotism and nationalism - an apt conversation as we engage in conflict in the Middle East and service members will surely have to ask themselves if they are enlisted for patriotic or nationalistic ideals. The highest ethic of their profession is rooted in patriotism - universal humanistic values guided by a longing to make the world and our country better. Nationalism, on the

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00:46:47

Episode 19 | Listen & Be Calm

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/06/17

In times of heightened social anxiety, it’s important to remember your strategies for self-care. First, learn to notice what triggers anxiety, then bring awareness ot the body and breath. Be sure to drink water and take breaks from social media and the news. When our nervous system is settled, we are better able to listen and respond calmly in chaos.

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00:44:51

Episode 18 | Going Back A Bit

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/06/10

A few weeks ago, we talked about Chapter 6 in On Tyranny, “Beware the Paramilitary.” As the National Guard descends upon the state of California to assist ICE, we are witnessing the rise of a military state as local and national law enforcement agencies are called upon to do Trump’s bidding and serve his anti-immigrant agenda. We also saw the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the United States from the El Salvadoran prison, CECOT, to be brought to trial for some pretty egregious accusations that

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00:51:06

Episode 17 | Education & THe Press

Engaged Citizen ·

2025/06/03

In a stable democracy, a free press and schools are two institutions that can generally be counted on to provide a wide range of views in an objective, expansive way. When governments start to control the media and limit the capacity of esteemed educational institutions, it threatens our ability to hold and honor differences and creates more divisiveness.

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