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August 15, 2025 19 mins
In this episode of Good News for Lefties, host Beowulf Rochlen dives into a wealth of uplifting stories that illuminate the progress being made in the fight for democracy and social justice across America.

We begin with the launch of the Washington Litigation Group, a groundbreaking nonprofit law firm formed to challenge the Trump administration's overreach. With a team of experienced attorneys dedicated to providing free legal support, this initiative represents a powerful resurgence of principled legal advocacy aimed at restoring accountability and fairness in government.

Next, we celebrate a significant victory in the gaming industry as Raven Software workers ratify their first union contract with Microsoft. This groundbreaking agreement sets a new standard for labor rights in video game development, proving that collective action can lead to meaningful change.

In an inspiring environmental initiative, Detroit is transforming its east side with the planting of giant sequoias, bringing new life and hope to urban landscapes while educating youth on environmental stewardship. This project showcases the potential for rewilding cities and combating pollution.

We also highlight a monumental win for conservation as the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is safeguarded from a harmful mining project through a historic land acquisition, demonstrating the power of community action in protecting vital ecosystems.

Finally, we share a crucial legal victory as a federal judge blocks the Trump administration from cutting Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide, ensuring continued access to essential health services for millions of patients.

Join us for this inspiring episode filled with stories of resilience, hope, and the unwavering belief that positive change is not only possible but actively happening across the nation!

If you have thoughts, ideas, or more good news to share, we’d love to hear from you! Call or message us at 202-656-6271 or drop us a line at beowulf@twosquaredmediaproductions.com.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/good-news-for-lefties-and-america-daily-news-for-democracy--6256627/support.
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Good News for Lefties and America. Hello, and thanks for
joining another episode of Good News for Lefties. I'm bailable
for Rockland, your host, ready to help you swap out doom,
scrolling for hope. Scrolling with uplifting stories for democracy defenders, progressives, liberals, socialists, leftists,

(00:26):
and anyone who believes in making America a better place
for everyone. It's no secret that these are challenging times.
The disappearing of immigrants and citizens, our president holding summits
with foreign dictators, and the wholesale destruction of critical government agencies.
Today's headlines often overwhelm us with troubling news, making it

(00:47):
all too easy to lose sight of hope. That's exactly
why it's vital to highlight the positive, real world progress
that's happening every day, progress that too often gets drowned
out by the negativity. Despite the set backs, there's genuine
movement toward a better America. So let these story serve
as a reminder that change isn't just possible, it's happening.

(01:08):
Carry this hope with you and share it with others.
Let's kick off with some good news headlines designed to
brighten your day. A new chapter in the fight for
democracy and justice is opened in Washington, d C. With
the launch of the Washington Litigation Group, a trailblazing nonprofit
law firm dedicated to challenging the Trump administration's aggressive use

(01:30):
of executive power. Composed of veteran attorneys, former federal prosecutors,
and even retired judges and civil servants drawn back to
public service, the firm aims to provide free legal support
to those resisting unlawful removals, agency shutdowns, and executive overreach
that threatened the core principles of government accountability. Under the

(01:51):
leadership of Tom Green, renowned for his past work during
Watergate and the Iran Contra affair, and joined by appellate
specialist Nathaniel old Zelenski, the firm boasts a formidable roster
of experience and moral conviction for many team members, including
James Pierce and Mary Dorman, former Justice Department prosecutors ousted

(02:12):
under Trump. This new endeavor is an extension of their
long standing commitment to the rule of law and nonpartisan justice.
Their diverse backgrounds from trial courts to the Supreme Court
ensure strategic expertise at every stage of high stakes litigation.
Already the firm is making waves by representing figures like
Kathy Harris, the ousted chair of the Merit System Protection Board.

(02:35):
The group's mission isn't just about individual cases. It's about
restoring confidence in government institutions and inspiring collective action among
legal professionals. As Tom Green put it, the mounting challenges
to the rule of law demand committed and talented lawyers
to step up, and that's precisely what the Washington Litigation

(02:56):
Group is doing. The initiative signals of power resurgence of
principled legal advocacy at a critical juncture for American democracy.
By standing up for fairness, justice, and independent oversight, these
lawyers are leading the charge to protect the rights of
civil servants and all those who depend on strong, accountable government,

(03:17):
ensuring that the values of transparency and justice endure no
matter the administration in power. In a win for video
game labour rights, workers at Raven Software in Middleton, Wisconsin
have unanimously ratified their first ever union contract with Microsoft.
Represented by the Game Workers Alliance CWA, the Quality Assurance

(03:42):
testers secured major gains after nearly three years of organizing
and negotiations, setting new standards for the industry in building
momentum for unionized game development across the country. The agreement
delivers a guaranteed ten percent wage increase over two years,
plus additional raises through merit and promotions, ending an eighteen

(04:03):
month freeze on pay and a nearly four year drought
in promotions. It also confronts one of the industry's most
notorious practices, crunch time. The contract eliminates sustained mandatory overtime,
requires seven days notice for any overtime assignment, limits it
to flexible schedules, and prohibits successive back to back weeks

(04:25):
of extra work. Further protections include bridging prior tamp or
contract work for benefits and promotions, clarified job descriptions, expanded
disability accommodations, and strong layoff safeguards such as severance pay,
recall rights, COBRA subsidies, and career transition support. Bargaining Committee
members Aaron Hall and Autumn Prazak called the deal of

(04:48):
victory not just for their own team, but for game
workers everywhere, proof that collective action works. C WA District
for Vice President Linda L. Hinton hailed the contract as
a breakthrough in curbing exploitative overtime, and valuing the skills
of QA testers, long undervalued in the gaming industry. Raven's

(05:09):
QA team became the first union at Activision Blizzard in
early twenty twenty two, shortly before Microsoft's acquisition of the publisher. Now,
along other recent wins like the Xenemax Workers United CWA contract,
which we've talked about on this show before, their success
underscores a growing wave of workplace organizing in gaming, anchored

(05:31):
in the belief that fair pay, humane schedules, and respect
for the work are not perks but rights. Before we
get back to the news, I want to tell you
about an important podcast called This Week Again, hosted by
Suzanne Posel. It takes a humorous look at politics and
current events one week at a time. It's a funny, angry, progressive, sarcastic,

(05:56):
hilarious podcast that drops every Sunday, and, my opinion, is
the largest single repository of creatively insulting names for Donald Trump.
Mango Mussolini, and Orange Julius Caesar are just the beginning.
So if you want to recap of the week and
you want a laugh into the bargain, listen to This
Week Again with Suzanne Posel on this platform or wherever

(06:20):
you listen to podcasts that's This Week Again with Suzanne Posel,
s U s A n n E pose e L
This Week Again, Listen, laugh, repeat. Tesla's once unmatched customer
loyalty has taken a dramatic hit since CEO Elon Musk

(06:41):
publicly endorsed Donald Trump in July twenty twenty four. According
to exclusive S and P Global Mobility data, the brand's
loyalty rate, the percentage of Tesla owning households that buy
another Tesla when shopping for a new car, peaked at
an industry leading seventy three percent in June twenty twenty four.
After Musk's endorsement and subsequent high profile political involvement, that

(07:04):
figure plunged, bottoming out at forty nine point nine percent
in March twenty twenty five, just below the industry average.
Analysts have called the decline unprecedented in speed and scale.
By May twenty twenty five, loyalty had rebounded slightly to
fifty seven point four percent, putting Tesla roughly level with Toyota,
but behind Chevrolet and Ford. The drop coincided not only

(07:27):
with Musk's political activism, including launching Trump's Department of Government
Efficiency or DOGE, and mass federal worker layoffs, but also
with broader brand challenges. Tesla's model lineup is aging. Its
much hyped cybertruck has underperformed wonder why, and traditional lawmakers,

(07:49):
along with newer EV brands like Rivian and Pollstar, are
eating into its market share. Tesla's conquest rate, how many
customers it gains from rival brands versus how much it loses,
as also weakened sharply. For years, Tesla gain nearly five
new households for everyone at lost, far outpacing the industry.
Now that figure has fallen below two to one, its

(08:12):
lowest ever, and some brands are attracting more former Tesla
customers than they lose to it. Globally, sales are also
down eight percent in the US in the first five
months of twenty twenty five, and a steep thirty three
percent drop in Europe, where backlash to Musk's politics have
been particularly strong. While Tesla still leads US EV sales

(08:33):
analysts to note, the company's mote of brand loyalty has
eroded significantly in under a year, raising questions about how
or if the automaker can repair the reputational damage. The
case illustrates how quickly political alignment by a high profile executive,
especially one who's a right wing nut job, can ripple

(08:53):
through consumer sentiment, even for a dominant market leader. Maryland
Democrats are preparing to engage in the explosive national battle
over congressional redistricting, triggered by recent aggressive Republican efforts, including
Texas's mid cycle redrawing of its districts. Although Maryland currently

(09:13):
has a strong Democratic majority with seven out of eight
US House seats, Democratic leaders like state House majority leader
David Moon, are drafting legislation that would automatically start Maryland's
own redistricting process if other states redraw their maps outside
the usual once a decade cycle. This is seen as
a defensive measure to prevent Republicans from gaining a disproportionate

(09:36):
advantage nationally. The lone Republican seat in Maryland, represented by
US Representative Andy Harris, has already been a focal point,
while the state's courts struck down prior Democratic attempts at
making that district more competitive due to extreme gerrymandering. Some
Democrats openly acknowledge the possibility of targeting Harris's district if

(09:57):
they decide to pursue a mid cycle das app Redraw
advocates stress that this fight is about safeguarding fair representation
against what they view as Republican moves to entrench power
through repeated remapping. Democrats say that unprecedented tactics by Republicans
in other states have forced their hand, emphasizing the need

(10:18):
to protect democracy from further distortion. With Maryland's next legislative
session beginning in January and a tight timeline ahead for
filing candidates for the twenty twenty six elections, it remains
uncertain when or if Democrats will move forward with new maps.
The effort captures a broader national tread of escalating redistricting battles,

(10:38):
highlighting the fragile state of US electoral fairness and the
deep artisan stakes in controlling Congress. Some leaders express hope
for cooler heads to prevail amid these contentious and uncharted waters. Next,
a listener suggested story back in a minute, and now

(10:59):
a listener suggestst story from Robert In Michigan, arborists and
environmental advocates are transforming Detroit's East Side by planting giant sequoias,
the world's largest and longest living trees, on vacant lots
scattered across the city. This bold initiative, led by the
nonprofit archangel Ancient Tree Archive in Arboretum Detroit, aims to

(11:22):
replace long standing urban blight with majestic sequoias, bringing new life,
cleaner air, and hope to neighborhoods in need. Planted as
saplings about one foot tall, these trees are expected to
reach fifteen feet within a decade, eventually creating a lush
canopy that will cool and cleanse the surrounding environment. Detroit

(11:42):
serves as the pilot city for the Giant Sequoia Filter
Forest Project. The sequoias being planted or clones from ancient
giants in California Sea Ara, Nevada like stag and Waterfall,
whose genetic lineage is preserved despite threats from increasingly intense
wildfires out west. While sequoias are resilient against disease and fire,

(12:03):
climate change is making their survival and their native habitat
more precarious. By establishing a thriving urban forest far from
those threats, Detroit's abundance of vacant land offers the space
these towering giants need to grow and thrive safely. The
project also holds profound social and educational significance as air

(12:24):
pollution and asthma rates remain high in the city, particularly
near industrial areas and highways. The giant sequoias are expected
to serve as powerful natural filters, absorbing pollutants and providing
shade and soaking up storm water to ensure lasting stewardship.
The nonprofits of launch State Tree School to engage Detroit's youth,

(12:45):
teaching them how to care for the trees and instilling
a deep connection to nature, even for children who may
never have walked in a forest before. Arboretum Detroit's executive director,
Andrew birch Camp states, there's not another urban area I
know of that as the kind of potential that we
do to reforest, we could all live in shady, fresh
air beauty. This visionary undertaking reimagines Detroit as a pioneer

(13:09):
of urban rewilding, combating environmental challenges with ancient giants, and
offering community members a renewed birthright to clean air, green spaces,
and environmental resilience. Thanks so much for that story, Robert.
If you have thoughts, ideas or more good news to share.
We'd love to hear from you. Call or message us

(13:29):
at two zero two six five six six two seven
to one, drop us a line at beowulf at two
squared Media Productions dot com, or send it to us
at good News for Lefties on Facebook, Instagram, or blue Sky.
The Okefinokee National Wildlife Refuge in Southeast Georgia, one of
North America's largest and most ecologically intact blackwater swamps, has

(13:54):
been spared from a potentially devastating mining project thanks to
a historic land acquisition. After years of fierce opposition from environmentalists,
local residents, and indigenous groups, the nonprofit Conservation Fund purchased
nearly eight thousand acres of land and mineral rights from
Twin Pines Minerals, the Alabama based company that had planned

(14:17):
to open a titanium dioxide mine near the refuge. The
sixty million dollar deal effectively halts the mining thread and
protects the fragile ecosystem that depends on the unique Trail
ridge formation, a natural earth and dam that holds the
swamp's waters in place. The Okifinoki home to hundreds of
plant and animal species, including federally protected ones relies solely

(14:41):
on rainfall for its water supply and is vulnerable even
to minor changes in water levels. Scientists had warned that
mining activities could have caused irreversible harm by lowering the
water table, increasing drought frequency, and escalating wildfire risks. The
Conservation Funds purchased COS at a critical time after Georgia

(15:02):
regulators temporarily stalled the mine permits, and it marks the
largest land deal by the Fund in the state today.
This victory was made possible through a coalition of conservation organizations,
private donors, and thousands of citizens, demonstrating the power of
collective action and safeguarding vital natural treasures. While the cessation

(15:23):
of mining near the Okefinoke is a significant success, advocates
caution that the fight to fully protect the surrounding area
is not over. Approximately thirty thousand acres of vulnerable private
land around the refuge remain unprotected, and state lawmakers have
repeatedly resisted passing laws to ban mining in these buffer zones.
The Okefinoki Protection Alliance and others continue to push for

(15:46):
comprehensive conservation measures and urge ongoing vigilance to ensure the
Swamp's long term survival. The Swamp's nomination for UNESCO World
Heritage Status underscores its global significance and could provide additional
safeguards moving forward. And that's a wrapp for today's edition
of Good News for Lefties. If these stories brighten your outlook,

(16:08):
please help us spread the word. Share this episode on
social media wherever you post. A big thanks to our
production team, Rosabel Hine and Aaron Watson for making all
of this possible behind the scenes. I'm be a wolf
Rocklin weird name Good News for Lefties and America.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
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Are you craving some smart, insightful, and hilarious takes on
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To the day's headlines with Stephanie Miller, Out of the
Gate and unwined with hilarious conversations on Stephanie Miller's Happy

(17:05):
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Subscribe to Stephanie Miller Out of the Gate and Stephanie
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com or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
And in case you missed it, here's this good news headline.
A federal judge in Boston US District, Judge Indira Tolwane,
has issued a ruling temporarily blocking the Trump administration from
cutting Medicaid funding to all Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide. The
decision expands on a previous injunction, which had only protected

(17:41):
ten affiliates, preventing enforcement of a provision in the recent
GOP tax and Health law that bars Medicaid payments for
one year to health nonprofits that both provide abortions and
received over eight hundred thousand dollars in Medicaid funding in
twenty twenty three. Judge Talwanie said that cutting off Medicaid
reimbursements to Planned Parenthood's network poses a serious risk of

(18:05):
disrupting essential health services for patients. These include access to contraceptives,
cancer screenings, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections STIs. The
judge warned that funding interruptions could lead to increased unintended
pregnancies and untreated STIs exacerbating public health challenges. Importantly, Tulwani

(18:28):
clarified that the ruling does not force the government to
fund elective abortions or any services not eligible for Medicaid.
The judge found that the law's provision effectively singles out
planned parenthood affiliates, many of which provide a broad range
of health services beyond abortion, unfairly jeopardizing their ability to operate.
The ruling pushes back against what Tulwane described as a

(18:51):
punitive and unconstitutional targeting of planned parenthood, which could otherwise
force clinics to reduce services or close, impacting millions of
patients nationwide. Planned Parenthood Federation of America hailed the ruling
as a critical victory for access to vital, reproductive and
preventative healthcare. The organization vowed to continue its legal fight

(19:14):
against the law, ensuring that Medicaid patients can maintain access
to trusted providers for birth control sdi testing, cancer screenings,
and more. Meanwhile, the judges order highlights the judiciary's role
in protecting the healthcare rights of vulnerable populations from politically
motivated funding cuts.
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