Musician, poet, and water protector Sunni (Sunni’i) Leilani joins us to talk about flowing her way into “love activism” which found its roots in early recovery from trauma, inspiration from the music of Prince, and milestones like Standing Rock, where over 500 indigenous tribes gathered in 2016-2017 to protest construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Creating art and fostering meaningful connections can knit together what’s broken in the world, or as Sunni might say: “beauty is encapsulated in purple ice, and the only thing that can free it is sunshine.”

Audrey and Patrick round out the episode by touching on recent news like the Cornell University and Jane Doe sexual assault lawsuit, the bigoted political targeting of Ilhan Omar by the Trump administration, and Alejandro González Iñárritu’s remarkable new film “Digger,” an essential cultural touchstone for our moment exploring oligarchy and climate catastrophe.

Above all looms the upcoming November midterm elections, where progressive challengers will battle entrenched institutional power and Americans can seize their best opportunity yet to tell Donald Trump to go fuck himself.

Everything related to Sunni and her craft can be found on her website: www.sunnii.net

Opening quote by Cornel West, from Robinson’s Podcast

Find the full episode @robinsonerhardt

Rest in Peace R.J. Mitte <3

Episode title music is “Wisteria Dreams” by SUNNI’i

From the album “Wisteria Dreams In Purple Ice”

Music and lyrics by Sunni Leilani

℗ Night Owl Earth Angel

Studio Producer: Tyrel Collins

Recording Engineer: Tyrel Collins

Mastering Engineer: Tyrel Collins

Mixing Engineer: Tyrel Collins

Co- Producer: SUNNI'i

Guitar ( Acoustic): Sunni Leilani

Guitar ( Electric): Kyle Saxe

Keyboard: Leah Elizabeth

Bass: Tyrel Collins

Drums: Yoji Sera

Vocal: Sunni Leilani

Links for Sunni’s music:

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0woF4J4E6rtB

https://sunnileilani.bandcamp.com/

https://music.youtube.com/@sunnileilani3709

https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCfXWy

https://music.amazon.com/artists/BOGRJM6P

Main logo art by Patrick Mitchell and Angelina Harvey (@graffitifucks on Instagram)

Main show theme is “Strangers” by Midnight Prisms

Music and lyrics by Alicia Beck

Music and production by Max Foreman

Mastering by Little Castle Sound

Please follow and listen to Midnight Prisms on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3o5jiLSZMoSXNWL98UBxYI?si=sK-K7IoUSp-QfFKgUwVY7A

This month we talk about Israel and the language surrounding Zionism, holding fast to our belief in equal dignity and rights for all people. Audrey visits a Seattle town hall featuring Pramila Jayapal about January 6th and the creeping threat of white nationalism. Hasan Piker’s bid to elect Socialists and progressives to Senate and Congressional seats, challenging the Democratic establishment, kicks the big donor hornet’s nest. In Audrey’s clinical work, clients lose medicaid, housing, food and transportation, which sometimes leads to suicides. DSA’s recent electoral advances kindle our hope that democracy might one day deliver the material support and challenge to imperial violence people around the world are desperately seeking.

Opening quote by Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI)

Main show theme is “Strangers” by Midnight Prisms

Music and lyrics by Alicia Beck

Music and production by Max Foreman

Mastering by Little Castle Sound

Please follow and listen to Midnight Prisms on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3o5jiLSZMoSXNWL98UBxYI?si=sK-K7IoUSp-QfFKgUwVY7A

Main logo art by Patrick Mitchell and Angelina Harvey (@graffitifucks on Instagram)

• (00:00:00) - DSA Resolution and Corporate Greed Speech
• (00:01:18) - Intro to Outside Issues Podcast
• (00:01:23) - Confronting a Zionist Rabbi's Microaggression
• (00:05:02) - Debating Genocide, Murder, and Legal Definitions
• (00:05:54) - Zionism, Trauma-Informed Language, and DSA Divisions
• (00:08:16) - Navigating Confrontation and Solidarity with Jewish Allies
• (00:09:42) - Finkelstein on Jewish Supremacy vs Zionism
• (00:11:03) - Personal Reflections on Being Called Colonizer/Bigot
• (00:14:46) - Nothing to Feel Guilty About
• (00:15:42) - Hasan Piker's Political Campaigning and Backlash
• (00:17:45) - Democratic Establishment's Fear and Media Silence on Hasan
• (00:21:21) - Dope of Hope and Town Hall Seattle Talk on Christian Nationalism
• (00:23:51) - Staying Informed Without Burnout
• (00:26:45) - Emotional Labor, Hope, and Systemic Frustration
• (00:29:38) - Voting as Material Relief and Political Opportunity
• (00:32:51) - Generational Shift Away from Boomer Politics
• (00:36:27) - Age of Abundance and Entrenched Capital
• (00:38:50) - Obama Hope Nostalgia and Lessons Learned

This month we sit down with mother, wife, addiction counselor, and former dockworker Lorie E. Garcia, who decades in recovery still speaks at meetings, sponsors women and fosters animals to square herself with a God of her understanding. We talk about the Steps, immigrant advocacy, and healing from racism and misogynous traumas through not only the rooms of AA but therapy and “outside help.”

Opening quote by U.S. Senate nominee Angie Nixon

Main show theme is “Strangers” by Midnight Prisms

Music and lyrics by Alicia Beck

Music and production by Max Foreman

Mastering by Little Castle Sound

Please follow and listen to Midnight Prisms on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3o5jiLSZMoSXNWL98UBxYI?si=sK-K7IoUSp-QfFKgUwVY7A

Main logo art by Patrick Mitchell and Angelina Harvey (@graffitifucks on Instagram)

• (00:00:00) - Are radical issues worth fighting for?
• (00:01:07) - One woman's story of Alcoholics Anonymous
• (00:09:08) - One Mother's Battle With Alcohol
• (00:13:35) - How the Steps Polishes Your Rough Skin
• (00:17:50) - Post-Trauma Therapy for Substance Use Disorder
• (00:23:34) - How Did You Heal the Trauma Around Racism?
• (00:25:38) - Trump supporters speak out about racism
• (00:31:36) - The Need for Treatment for Substance Use
• (00:35:10) - Longshore Women speak out about the challenges
• (00:36:22) - Pro-Unions: I Love My Union
• (00:43:23) - 72-Year-Old Woman Rescues Three Cats and Three

Audrey welcomes friend and colleague Katherine “Wren” Hamilton, a Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT)-focused social worker. Wren began her journey towards helping others first from her own struggles with anxiety and suicidal ideations. Recovery from a host of addictions and traumas can often be traced to some form of “radical acceptance.” What Wren shares with clients and accesses herself through DBT can also help Audrey to manage her mental health struggles and Patrick to manage his breakup. If we press our emotions down, they’re bound to re-emerge at inopportune times. Feel to heal, and don’t judge your judging!

Opening quote by Maria Bamford

Rest in peace Kavinsky and Glen Hansard.

Rest in piss Lindsay Graham.

Mitch McConnell, thoughts and prayers.

Main show theme is “Strangers” by Midnight Prisms

Music and lyrics by Alicia Beck

Music and production by Max Foreman

Mastering by Little Castle Sound

Please follow and listen to Midnight Prisms on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3o5jiLSZMoSXNWL98UBxYI?si=sK-K7IoUSp-QfFKgUwVY7A

Main logo art by Patrick Mitchell and Angelina Harvey (@graffitifucks on Instagram)

• (00:00:00) - How to Get a Dog to Stand Up For You
• (00:01:01) - How to Love All Your Emotions
• (00:04:24) - How social work helped me get out of debt
• (00:07:35) - How to Cope With Suicidality
• (00:12:48) - Dbt Therapy: The Acceptance Skills and Change Skills
• (00:19:19) - Developing a mini vacation for mental health needs
• (00:24:50) - Dbt on Radical Acceptance
• (00:28:16) - Audrey on Judgeing Others
• (00:32:39) - Audrey on Working Full-Time
• (00:36:58) - Don't Judge Your Thinking

After touching on Pride Month and trans dignity, Audrey talks about her joy, pressures, and long term goals in helping others heal, while Patrick discusses taking a chip for 8 years of continuous sobriety. Expressions of hope and joy are vital countermessaging in the era of Trump.

Opening quote by Zohran Mamdani

Main show theme is “Strangers” by Midnight Prisms

Music and lyrics by Alicia Beck

Music and production by Max Foreman

Mastering by Little Castle Sound

Please follow and listen to Midnight Prisms on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3o5jiLSZMoSXNWL98UBxYI?si=sK-K7IoUSp-QfFKgUwVY7A

Main logo art by Patrick Mitchell and Angelina Harvey (@graffitifucks on Instagram)

Patrick Newman, Audrey Comber, 12 Steps, Recovery, Addiction, LGBT, Pride Month

• (00:00:00) - Mental illness in the DSM-5
• (00:05:56) - Vanessa Bee on Trans Issues
• (00:12:49) - How to Stop Being a Shoddy Clinician
• (00:14:59) - Is Social Work More Head or Heart Oriented?
• (00:20:20) - How to Rest Your Body With Burnout
• (00:21:22) - How has your sponsor affected your recovery?
• (00:26:37) - I Have a Hard Time Sitting With My Feelings
• (00:33:10) - Bob Ferguson on the millionaires tax
• (00:39:12) - He Supports Ron DeSantis

Audrey and Patrick welcome Melanie C. to talk about second chances, disillusionment with electoral politics, and Michael Clayton. Covid lockdown, parental support and medication-assisted treatment helped Melanie find recovery from a fifteen year opiate addiction. Reading Edward Said in college began her education on Palestine and her advocacy for humanity and liberation.

We shouldn’t demand that revolution and resistance come in the ideological manner we prefer. We aren’t okay with our comfort coming at the expense of human lives. As a practice, Melanie suggests that when it comes to social and political critique, we also put mirror on ourselves: how are we contributing to our communities, to our civics, beyond posting?

Follow Melanie on Twitter: @benzostraydogs

Her Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/benzostraydogs/

Opening quote by filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, about Starship Troopers

Anna Scanlon’s Substack: https://substack.com/@rockfoils

Main show theme is “Strangers” by Midnight Prisms

Music and lyrics by Alicia Beck

Music and production by Max Foreman

Mastering by Little Castle Sound

Please follow and listen to Midnight Prisms on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3o5jiLSZMoSXNWL98UBxYI?si=sK-K7IoUSp-QfFKgUwVY7A

Main logo art by Patrick Mitchell and Angelina Harvey (@graffitifucks on Instagram)

• (00:00:00) - "War makes fascist of us all"
• (00:00:51) - Mad Max and Fury Road: Cinephile Talk
• (00:03:57) - The Pit Fanatic On ER
• (00:07:49) - I Run Into Former Employee From My Heroin Addiction
• (00:14:09) - Bipolar patient's struggle to quit smoking after 30 years
• (00:16:22) - Melanie on Her Own Sobriety
• (00:23:19) - Anti-Israel People on the Democrats
• (00:30:45) - Members of the DSA Get Involved in the Resistance
• (00:38:02) - Gen Xers on the 2020 election
• (00:39:00) - George Clooney in '
• (00:44:03) - In The Elevator With Michael Clayton

Nick Casaccio joins us to talk about Benny Safdie’s The Smashing Machine and its twin dynamics of alcoholism and codependency, relating Mark Kerr’s struggles to our own recoveries. Addiction has a habit of migrating, and we discuss how gambling, shopping, and relationships have taken our stories down new rabbit holes. Nick finished school while he was in treatment more than thirteen years ago, and through Covid, bodybuilding, relationship struggles and physical ailments has continually offered himself in fellowship.

The ultimate purpose of celebrating recovery milestones is to inspire newcomers and share our experience strength and hope to those who still suffer.

Opening clip by Mark Kerr, from a 2009 interview

Episode cover art by Perry Kneisel

Main show theme is “Strangers” by Midnight Prisms

Music and lyrics by Alicia Beck

Music and production by Max Foreman

Mastering by Little Castle Sound

Please follow and listen to Midnight Prisms on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3o5jiLSZMoSXNWL98UBxYI?si=sK-K7IoUSp-QfFKgUwVY7A

Main logo art by Patrick Mitchell and Angelina Harvey (@graffitifucks on Instagram)

• (00:00:00) - A Men's Stag Birthday Bash
• (00:05:42) - How I Learned To Stop Drinking Alcohol During My Dark Times
• (00:11:08) - Gambling Helped Me Finish High School
• (00:17:18) - Casinos are a Bad Place for Gambling Stars
• (00:22:36) - Bipolar Patient Nick On His Spending Sprees
• (00:26:19) - The Smashing Machine: Ending Explained
• (00:27:13) - The Importance of 'The Codependent'
• (00:34:16) - Bipolar patient celebrates her 10th birthday

Audrey welcomes another wounded healer to Outside Issues: spiritual advisor Matthew Blankinship, who helps professionals and peers get stronger in their 11th Step. To become an expert in any field, Matthew believes ten years and ten thousand hours are required, to graduate from “digging the ditches to building the high rise.”

After a traumatic brain injury, paralyzed muscles and Vegas nerve severance (among other injuries), Matthew dedicated his life to healing at age 33, beginning his life anew. Divine wisdom - which aided Matthew in his own recovery as it helps Audrey recover from trauma and grief - is something with only light in it. It works for everyone.

Our highest and best goods project outward to people and the planet. Politics at their best, can be an extension of this. Mental health care and a spiritual practice give us the tools to keep ourselves in check so we can then help others.

Follow Matthew on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattblankinship

Opening clip by Brad Dourif and David Milch

Main show theme is “Strangers” by Midnight Prisms

Music and lyrics by Alicia Beck

Music and production by Max Foreman

Mastering by Little Castle Sound

Please follow and listen to Midnight Prisms on Spotify!

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3o5jiLSZMoSXNWL98UBxYI?si=sK-K7IoUSp-QfFKgUwVY7A

Main logo art by Patrick Mitchell and Angelina Harvey (@graffitifucks on Instagram)