This week gas prices were dramatic, brand new Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin took to Fox News to walk back promises he made during his confirmation hearings just last month, and Trump (among other things) threatened journalists with jail time for protecting leakers. So Symone and Eugene ask Geoff Bennett, PBS anchor and author of “Black Out Loud: The Revolutionary History of Black Comedy from Vaudeville to '90s Sitcoms” to join the groupchat. Together they compile a list of ideas for distracting yourself – i.e. preserving your sanity – while the President of the United States is posting “a whole civilization will die tonight”: Victor Glover putting lotion on in space, Christina Koch fixing the space toilet, dinosaurs, rewatch “A Different World,” rewatch “Living Single,” dinosaurs again, make bracelets for your friends and family, make phone cases for your friends and family. “You gotta find some whimsy every day,” says Symone. “Cause the world is hard.”

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As the war in the Middle East continues and Americans take to the streets to protest, Symone and Eugene turn to a familiar figure to make sense of these strange times: "Auntie" Rachel Maddow. The trio ask if President Trump can distinguish reality from fantasy. Does he have a comprehension problem? Or is he emotionally lazy? But the thing is, Rachel Maddow doesn’t actually care what’s going on in his brain. “I am very disinterested in him as a person,” she says. “I know that Donald Trump wants to dismantle us as a constitutional republic. The most important thing is what the country is going to do in trying to stop him. What is everybody else going to do?” And Eugene tears up talking about how important it is for the American people to realize they have agency. "They don’t have to  accept the idea that their neighbors are gonna be snatched up and taken away. They don't have to accept the idea that, you know, gay marriage may go away. They don't have to accept that sh*t.” Plus Druski gets millions talking about Erika Kirk again, while Nick Cannon, Amber Rose, and TLC’s Chilli display their own comprehension problems.

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Trump says he was the first person to think ICE agents would help with the interminable lines around the country. “That was like the paperclip,” he said, standing on a tarmac in West Palm Beach on Monday. “You know the story of the paperclip? 182 years ago, a man discovered the paperclip. It was so simple and everybody that looked at it [would] say, why didn't I think of that?” And Eugene points out that no one else thought of it because it’s a terrible idea. He and Symone also call the war in Iran “a choice,” and look at the small percentage of Americans (it’s 1%) that stands to benefit from that choice. “This  is a wealth transfer that is hiding in a gas price,” says Symone, referring to a study of the 2022 oil shock – caused by Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine – that showed the net income of publicly listed oil and gas companies tripled the last time oil cost as much as it does now. Then social media star Harry Sisson joins to talk the difference in standards between traditional media and creators, cynicism, and faith in the American people.

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Symone and Eugene observe the fallout of war in the Middle East, which has widened to include Iran’s soccer team, the price of gas all over the world, and the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Then Sam Sanders joins to talk about Oscars wins and merger losses. He argues that we’ll remember last weekend’s Academy Awards – when interesting movies like “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” won big – as the end of an era. “The version of Hollywood that we are walking into will be much less likely to actually green light those kind of films,” says Sam. And he places the blame for our more boring future at the feet of … the billionaires. “The question,” asks Sam, “is are we going to have people in charge of this stuff who choose to spend money on folks who aren't from central casting?”

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As the war in Iran extends into week two, the White House is turning the deadly fighting into a meme, while the president and Marco Rubio eye their next target: Cuba. And after being arrested for covering an ICE protest in Minnesota, Don Lemon comes on the show and gets real about his legal battle with the Department of Justice. The independent journalist and former CNN anchor has been called a “sleazebag” by the President of the United States. But he remains undeterred. He reminds us that the First Amendment is the “bedrock of our constitution,” and at the end of the day he believes he will have the last word.

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"You don't talk to me for hope," she says. But we found a little bit. First, Ayman Mohyeldin stops by to break down how he’s watching the news out of Iran, and what he sees in the chaotic conclusion to the Democratic primary for a Senate seat in Texas. In our guest segment – the groupchat – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and creator of “The 1619 Project” Nikole Hannah-Jones warns us that we have entered a second Nadir, a period when progress toward democracy is being rolled back. And returning to an era of Civil Rights enforcement is not a short-term struggle. But, she says, in the words of Coretta Scott King: “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” And now, Nikole says, it’s our turn to earn it.

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Trump’s 2026 State of the Union was … one for the record books. Literally. In the longest State of the Union address in history – something the president is no doubt proud of – Trump continued to declare that America is  bigger, better, richer, hotter, and stronger than ever before. Marc Lamont Hill joins Symone and Eugene to discuss how that could be possible when the price of beef, orange juice, and rent is up, and when Americans are looking down the barrel at losing their voting rights. Symone and Eugene also apologize to Vini Jr. – on others’ behalf – ask how FBI Director Kash Patel rationalizes taking a government Gulfstream to the Olympics after he repeatedly criticized his predecessor for similar behavior, and call out the BAFTAs for shoving Delroy Lindo, Michael B. Jordan, and a Tourette’s activist into a spotlight not a single soul asked for.

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Why is Donald Trump so angry? Because former President Barack Obama is cool and he’s not – at least according to journalist Jemele Hill. Jemele joins Symone and Eugene to chat about Obama’s reception at the NBA All-Star Game, why Stephen A. Smith is proof that the age of the celebrity president isn’t going anywhere, and why the Olympics are turning out to be an embarrassing moment for America. And they pay their respects to Civil Rights icon Reverend Jesse Jackson, whose call-and-response adaptation of the poem “I Am Somebody” can serve as a reminder for all of us.

Heads up! The State of the Union is February 24th. Join Symone and Eugene for a YouTube livestream, starting at 8:30pm. Visit youtube.com/@msnow to check that out.

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