The Democratic Party has its work cut out. Meanwhile, there’s a fundamental issue: the party doesn’t currently have formal power. It doesn't have a majority in either House of Congress, it doesn't control the executive branch, and the Supreme Court has a 6-3 Trump majority. And all of this is creating a kind of impotent rage, frustration and feeling that Democratic leadership hasn’t really risen to the moment. But how might Democrats stand up in this moment? Rep. Robert Garcia, is a representative from California’s 42nd congressional district. Before that, he was the mayor of Long Beach. He joins WITHpod to discuss his thoughts on whether or not we’ve lost the American republic, the unlawful nature of so many Trump 2.0 actions, ways Democrats can adjust messaging and more.

Trolls have basically taken possession of the U.S. government. How have trolls been able to go from being mostly cordoned off in dark parts of the internet to gaining so much influence in American culture and politics? Our guest this week has spent years researching and reporting on-the-ground to learn more about how the battle online between the right and the left has moved into the real world. Elle Reeve is a correspondent at CNN and the author of “Black Pill: How I Witnessed the Darkest Corners of the Internet Come to Life, Poison Society, and Capture American Politics.” She joins WITHpod to discuss the politics of “black pilled” and “red pilled” young men, the ways in which online extremism so often translates into political violence and more.

A defining feature of America from its inception has been physical mobility. And that physical mobility has been the engine of social mobility. But we’ve seen a great deal of economic and social sclerosis over the past few decades. Our guest this week has how, for many people, America has ceased to be the land of opportunity. Yoni Appelbaum is a deputy executive editor of The Atlantic, author of “Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity,” and a social and cultural historian of the U.S. He joins WITHpod to discuss how the idea of mobility has changed within the last century, how things might become less “stuck” and more.