For America's 250th birthday, Heidi and Joel skip the fireworks and head for the ballpark, and they bring their guest, Bob Kendrick, along. He is the President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. The museum is just a few blocks away from where the team owners established a league of their own in 1920. Bob has spent three decades making sure that the players and the stories of the Negro League are not forgotten.

Bob walks Heidi and Joel through why some of the best baseball in the country got played on fields most fans never read about, how a club from Jamestown, North Dakota beat a lineup of big-league stars, and what happened to the Negro Leagues the day Jackie Robinson finally got his shot. Bob has answers and a lot of good stories to go with them.

In this episode:

• How Jim Crow forced Black players into their own leagues, and how they answered on the field
• Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Jackie Robinson, and careers the majors delayed or erased
• Why Negro Leagues games often outdrew the majors, and the talent gap that never existed
• Larry Doby and the different fight the American League's first Black player faced
• How World War II shifted the country's willingness to integrate its pastime

Resources & Links

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Connect with Bob Kendrick on:

Linkedin

Twitter

Two hundred fifty years in, America’s pastime still has a few chapters that are not told enough. Tune in.

The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

• (00:00) - - Americana, baseball, and the show's focus
• (00:43) - - Kansas City, birthplace of the Negro Leagues
• (01:36) - - Bob Kendrick on the leagues' history
• (02:12) - - North Dakota's early integration
• (03:07) - - Bismarck and Jamestown's integrated teams
• (05:27) - - The Bismarck-Jamestown rivalry
• (07:03) - - Teaching the discrimination players faced
• (11:20) - - How long the leagues lasted after integration
• (12:30) - - Team geography and migration patterns
• (14:13) - - The East-West All-Star Game
• (17:10) - - Segregation's overt and covert forms
• (18:10) - - Satchel Paige's legend and skill
• (20:22) - - WWII, Willie Mays, and Henry Aaron
• (21:20) - - Jackie Robinson's courage and burden
• (24:13) - - Hank Aaron's rise to stardom
• (25:50) - - Baseball as a unifying force
• (32:00) - - The museum's future and mission
• (33:50) - - Positional barriers in early integration
• (38:01) - - Roy Campanella and other Hall of Famers who started in the leagues
• (43:27) - - Visit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

For Heidi, the reflecting pool on the National Mall in D.C. is more than a tourist attraction; it's a metaphor for how Washington handles problems. Years of algae, cloudy water, and expensive repairs reflect a familiar pattern: ignore an issue until it becomes a crisis, then spend money on a temporary fix rather than addressing the underlying cause. She believes rural America has been treated the same way for decades.

In this quick episode of The Hot Dish, Heidi talks about how low crop prices, tariffs, and bad policy keep hurting the people who actually farm the land. She also gives a peek at upcoming conversations with Joel.

The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject)

• (02:00) - - Metaphor of the reflecting pool and impulsive government decisions
• (04:30) - - Challenges of unqualified decision-making and resource management in rural infrastructure projects
• (07:00) - - Impact of national policies on rural economies and farmer communities
• (09:00) - - Importance of balanced political messaging and leadership recovery
• (11:15) - - Strategies for rural economic diversification beyond farming
• (14:00) - - Reflection on America's democracy and upcoming celebrations of the nation's founding
• (16:20) - - Closing remarks and optimism for future rural prosperity

Nick Levendofsky has spent years watching Washington write farm bills that land badly in the field. As director of the Kansas Farmers Union, he's tracked input costs climbing, cattle herds shrinking, and processing power concentrating into fewer hands, and he's done sugarcoating what that means.

While Heidi is out this week, Joel sits down with Nick to work through where the farm bill actually stands, why the House version leaves too much on the table, and what trade wars cost rural markets long after the headlines move on.

In this episode:

• Why the House farm bill misses on crop insurance, antitrust, and beginning farmers
• The bipartisan math required to pass anything that actually sticks
• How packers and processors have shifted market power away from producers
• What tariffs and trade disruptions do to rural markets over the long run
• The structural problems no single bill can fix, and where the pressure points are

Resources & Links

Kansas Farmers Union

Connect with Nick Levendofsky on:

LinkedIn

The farm bill keeps falling short, and farmers can't afford to wait. Tune in, get informed, and find out what real reform actually looks like.

The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

• (00:00) - Overview of today's focus on U.S. farm policy challenges
• (02:00) - Current status of the farm bill and legislative prospects
• (03:00) - Why the House version falls short for farmers’ needs
• (04:45) - Critical issues: antitrust, beginning farmers, and safety nets
• (05:50) - Land transfers, farm retirements, and generational shifts
• (12:00) - The impact of past reconciliation cuts and nutrition programs
• (14:00) - Farmer reliance on federal aid versus trade-based income
• (15:46) - Concentration in meatpacking and input industries
• (20:12) - The efficacy of checkoff programs amid trade conflicts
• (22:30) - Challenges with U.S. trade policies, tariffs, and international markets
• (26:20) - Long-term outlook for market recovery and trust rebuilding
• (33:27) - The political landscape and farmers’ support for current leadership
• (36:31) - Reflections on football coaching ties and regional pride

Buckle up, history buffs and democracy defenders. We're sitting down with Ruth Ben-Ghiat, professor of history and Italian studies at New York University, author of Strongman, and one of the leading experts on authoritarianism, to connect the dots between today's political chaos and the playbooks of history's most dangerous leaders. The parallels are less "ancient history" and more "this week's headlines," and Ruth is here to decode every one of them.

Heidi and Joel also unpack the shifting electoral map, with a look at Senate battlegrounds, emerging gubernatorial contests, and what the current political climate means for voters heading into the next cycle.

In this episode:

• How today's administration mirrors the tactics of historic autocrats
• The anatomy of a cult of personality, and how they're built
• The "only I can do it" syndrome and why it resonates
• The TINA trap: why "There Is No Alternative" is so dangerous
• What the bunker mentality reveals about autocratic fear
• Religion, symbols, and grievance as tools of authoritarian power
• The warning signs of democratic erosion, and how fast it moves
• Why American resilience may be the one thing autocrats can't plan for

Connect with Ruth Ben-Ghiat on:
Twitter
Substack: Lucid

The playbook for autocracy isn't buried in history books; it's playing out in real time. Tune in, get informed, and maybe think twice before you call this just another political phase.

The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

• (00:00) - Introduction to Ruth Ben-Ghiat's expertise on authoritarianism
• (00:01) - The unique and dangerous nature of today’s political threats
• (00:13) - The risks of loyalists and whether they can escape the grip of the cult
• (00:19) - The cult of personality, authoritarian playbook, and Trump’s messaging
• (00:23) - How Trump’s demagoguery compares to Mussolini and fascist archetypes
• (00:24) - The lasting legacy—how Trump’s era might be remembered forever
• (00:26) - The trajectory toward an ethno-state and the exploitation of wealth
• (00:28) - The challenge of former loyalists re-entering politics amid autocratic influence
• (00:35) - The impact of social progress and backlash, race, gender, and democracy
• (00:38) - The fears and vulnerabilities of autocrats like Trump—hidden bunker fears
• (00:39) - The uncharted and disturbing destruction of public health and welfare
• (00:42) - The changing landscape of election rules and the future of democracy
• (00:46) - The rapid speed of autocratic consolidation—Hungary, Russia, and beyond
• (00:46) - How policies are weaponized to transfer wealth and create division
• (00:46) - How autocrats boast confidence but tremble behind the scenes
• (00:52) - The costly mistake of intervening in foreign conflicts
• (00:57) - The autocratic “no alternative” syndrome and potential successors

This episode pulls back the curtain on the AI gold rush, the data centers, the water bills, the NDAs, and what it all means for rural communities that rarely have a seat at the table.

AI sounds like the future, but the costs are landing unevenly, especially outside major cities. Heidi and Joel join Dr. Emily Bender and Dr. Alex Hanna to dig into the real, and rarely discussed, toll of our digital infrastructure boom, from secretive corporate deals to environmental strain, and ask the question nobody in Silicon Valley wants answered: who actually pays the price?

In this episode:

• The gap between AI hype and reality, and why it matters
• Data centers sprouting faster than the regulations meant to govern them
• The true costs to energy, water, and local infrastructure that corporations aren't advertising
• Public resistance, NDA nightmares, and the political pressure to build fast
• Why regulation hasn't kept pace and how communities are pushing back
• The risks of AI overreliance, hallucinations, and why source-checking matters
• Where international regulation stands and the gap in U.S. policy

Guests:

• Emily Bender - Twitter | University Profile
• Alex Hanna’s Website
• DAIR Institute

The AI boom isn't slowing down, but neither are the people asking the hard questions. Tune in, get informed, and maybe think twice before you trust the hype.

The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

Today’s episode is a heartfelt dive into the wild, wonderful world of rural health care, featuring the utterly inspiring Tami DeCoteau. We explore everything from Native American trauma to the magic of telemedicine and, of course, the political circus affecting mental health funding.

Why does Tami love her rural practice? How do social media and AI impact our minds? And what’s the deal with farmers feeling more stressed than a coffee addict on decaf?

Heidi and Joel also discuss upcoming Senate and governor races, focusing on Sherrod Brown's potential return to the Senate, the political landscape in Ohio, and insights into key electoral strategies. They analyze the implications of recent political developments and candidate choices, providing you with a comprehensive understanding of the current US political climate.

In this episode:

• The explosive need for mental health services in rural and Native American populations
• How telemedicine is becoming the unsung hero in rural mental health care
• Challenges of attracting providers to North Dakota—money, roads, and reputation
• The importance of trauma-informed care and how childhood experiences shape nervous systems
• The impact of economic stress, especially on farmers, and rising political tensions
• How social media and AI are rewiring our brains—think of it as mental cord-cutting gone wrong
• The future of rural health policy (more resources, better pay, and less stigma)
• The missing link: the pipeline of Native American psychologists and why rural providers are hard to find
• Plus, a quick political roundup, because who doesn’t love some political banter?

Guests:

• Tami DeCoteau - DeCoteau Trauma-Informed Care & Practice

And don’t forget to tell your friends, especially the ones who believe mental health is just "a phase," because Tami proves it's a lifelong mission.

The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

• (00:00) - Introduction to Rural Health Care Challenges
• (03:01) - The Importance of Telemedicine in Rural Areas
• (05:43) - Understanding the Demographics of Mental Health Clients
• (09:00) - Building Trust in Rural Communities
• (11:43) - The Impact of Trauma on Mental Health
• (14:52) - Economic Stress and Mental Health in Farming Communities
• (17:58) - The Role of AI in Mental Health
• (20:57) - Policy Changes for Rural Mental Health
• (23:27) - The Need for More Mental Health Providers
• (26:37) - Future Directions for Rural Mental Health Services
• (33:52) - Sherrod Brown's Senate Race Prospects
• (36:46) - Political Landscape and Implications for Ohio

Grab your coffee and get ready to talk dirt! Heidi and Joel check in on the state of the family farm, taking stock of what's actually happening in farm country right now. From a farm bill that leaves small farmers behind to a family sweet corn operation cutting its crop in half, this episode gets honest about the headwinds facing farm country.

In this episode:

• Why the new farm bill won't do much for small and mid-size family farmers
• How the war with Iran sent fertilizer prices through the roof — right when farmers were planning their season
• David Harold of Tuxedo Corn Company on why he's raising half the sweet corn he planned to this year
• The labor, trucking, pest, and drought pressures piling up on one Colorado farm
• Why farmers who vote against their economic interests may finally face a reckoning
• What hand-harvested, eating-quality sweet corn has to do with everything wrong with our food system

Family farmers are doing everything right — and still getting squeezed from every direction. David Harold's story of cutting back his beloved Olathe Sweet corn operation isn't just about one farm. It's about a food system that rewards shelf life over quality, scale over care, and corporate agriculture over the family farmers who built rural America.

Whether you're a farmer, a food lover, or just someone who wants to understand what's really happening in rural communities, this episode will change the way you think about what's on your plate. Hit play — and maybe go find some good sweet corn while you're at it.

Connect with David Harold and Tuxedo Corn Company:

• Tuxedo Corn Company
• Tuxedo Corn Company on Facebook

And remember: the dish is hottest when the stakes are highest. Don't miss the next Hot Dish — more flavor, less fuss!

The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

• (00:00) - Introduction to The Hot Dish
• (00:10) - The State of Farming and the New Farm Bill
• (02:11) - Political Dynamics in Rural America
• (05:39) - Challenges Facing Family Farmers
• (08:04) - Conclusion and Upcoming Guest
• (08:04) - The State of Farming Today
• (10:57) - Challenges in Specialty Crop Farming
• (13:51) - The Importance of Labor in Agriculture

Grab your sweet tea and pull up a chair! Heidi and Joel sit down with Scott Colom, candidate for U.S. Senate from Mississippi, to talk about what it actually takes to turn one of the reddest states in the nation. If you care about expanding the map, building real coalitions, and what Democrats can win when they show up, this episode's for you.

In this episode:

• How engaging directly with voters increased turnout by 90% in Mississippi's primaries
• Scott Colom’s stance on tariffs, healthcare, and rural economic revival
• The importance of authenticity and listening in modern politics
• How Colom plans to combat voter suppression and fight for fair elections
• The story about a soldier missing his daughter's softball game—and why it hits home
• Insights into Mississippi's unique primary system and demographic challenges
• The power of community voices—like barbers and farmers—in shaping policy

Most people have already written Mississippi off before the ballots are even printed. But Scott Colom isn't most people. In this conversation, the senate candidate makes the case that the most unexpected races can become the most important ones — and that the path to a Democratic Senate majority might just run through the heart of the Deep South.

Whether you're a political junkie, a grassroots organizer, or just someone who believes no voter should be left behind, this episode will challenge the way you think about the electoral map. Don't count Mississippi out. Hit play and hear why.

Connect with Scott Colom

• Scott Colom for Senate
• Scott Colom on Instagram
• Scott Colom on Facebook

And remember: the dish is hottest when the race is closest. Don't miss the next Hot Dish — more flavor, less fuss!

The Hot Dish is brought to you by the One Country Project. To learn more, visit OneCountryProject.org, or find us on Substack (Onecountryproject.substack.com), and on YouTube, Bluesky, and Facebook (@onecountryproject).

• (00:00) - Introduction to The Hot Dish and Mississippi Politics
• (03:02) - Scott Colom's Campaign and Vision for Change
• (06:05) - Challenges Facing Mississippi Farmers
• (09:07) - Building Trust with Voters
• (11:50) - Understanding Mississippi's Primary System
• (14:55) - Impact of Tariffs and Economic Policies
• (18:08) - Personal Stories and the Cost of War
• (21:02) - Centering Voters in Political Conversations
• (24:02) - Scott Colom's Unique Position in the Race
• (26:45) - Conclusion and Future Aspirations
• (29:13) - Enthusiasm in Politics
• (32:09) - Analyzing Senate Races
• (35:14) - Grassroots Support and Community Engagement