Standing Room Only

Right-wing media personality Charlie Kirk is turning to religion to level up his racism. The Turning Point USA founder used to call himself “secular,” but now he’s a radical right-wing Christian arguing against the First Amendment and trying to reach young adults. Amanda's guest this week is Randall Balmer, Dartmouth historian and author of "America’s Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State." He explains what Kirk gets wrong ...

Conservative pundits are mad about the new"Superman" movie. They’ve called the blockbuster “Superwoke” for emphasizing Superman’s immigrant roots and complained about Gunn’s directorial message of kindness and morality. Amanda explains what their anger really reveals about their deep anxieties around masculinity and race. Also, they completely miss the point of what Superman has stood for forever! This week's guest is Salon senior ...

Pumped up lips, spray tans, hollowed out cheeks and false lashes are just some of the characteristics of the Mar-a-Lago face that Donald Trump adores in his women. In this episode of Standing Room Only, Amanda talks about why the look is so popular, what it stands for and how it relates to an emerging social media trend called feminine energy. Journalist Laura Bassett joins the booth to talk about some of the notable Mar-a-Lago fac...

At the right-wing media company The Daily Wire, the ladies' auxiliary keeps outdoing the dudes. Brett Cooper, the 23-year-old host of “The Brett Cooper Show” who says it’s cool to be Republican, broke away from the network and made her own show geared at Gen Z and became a Fox News contributor. In this episode, Amanda explains why Brett is an example of how Ben Shapiro, the Daily Wire’s founding editor-in-chief, never really believ...

Will Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez run for president in 2028? She has not even hinted at that, but from listening to Donald Trump and his MAGA friends talk about her non-stop, they are certainly scared of facing her. In this episode, Amanda talks about what precisely bothers Republicans about AOC and what they actually like about her. She also explains why Trump cannot separate AOC from Zohran Mamdani, who recently defeated former ...

From trolling the media to gaslighting the public, it's no surprise Donald Trump chose 27-year-old Karoline Leavitt as his new press secretary. In this episode, Amanda unpacks Leavitt's combative style with reporters, including scolding the press and calling their questions “stupid.” She also looks into her curious rise from White House intern to MAGA mouthpiece and examine why the tactics may backfire. There’s also the lie that Le...

What's wrong with a kid wearing cat ears or roaring like a lion at playtime? Texas Republicans and Gov. Greg Abbott don't like it and they have a plan to ban dress-up and other "non-human behavior" in schools. In this episode of Standing Room Only, Amanda details how a logic-defying culture war about litter boxes turned into a real bill aimed at forbidding kids from playing pretend at school. For the Pass the Mic segment, Imara Jon...

RFK Jr. and Dr. Casey Means are examples of the weird and growing crossover between health influencers and Christian right politics. Amanda breaks down why it's happening and the specific dangers of Means, an unlicensed functional medicine doctor who talks to trees, hates sunscreen and apparently is also an amateur poet? In this episode, Amanda reads Means’ poetry and explains why RFK Jr.'s minions include the Christian right and a...