Shake It Off with Mert & Lucas Live

Our second hour begins with a conversation on last week's GOP Midterm Convention in Dallas, specifically President Trump's promise of a $5,000 stipend to all eligible American adults if Republicans win both houses of Congress in the November midterms. The show wraps with Stephen Reiner, keynote speaker and bestselling author, to discuss his new book Business Changes Fast, People Change Slow: A Leadership Guide to Accelerating Organizational Change and Building Competitive Advantage.

Episode 114 begins with Mert, Ryan Pagano, and Alex discussing the 25 year commemoration of the September 11th attacks, and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration releasing new documents about the air quality in Lower Manhattan post-9/11 being covered up. Then from the 21st century to the 18th century, Professor Frank Cogliano, Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh, joins the show to discuss his new book Thomas Jefferson Survives: American Independence in His Time and Ours, co-authored with Peter S. Onuf.

Our second hour begins with a look at yet incident in the unfriendly skies. The show wraps with Anne Fundner, the “Angel Mom” whose 15-year-old son Weston was poisoned by fentanyl-laced pills in 2022; a 2024 RNC speaker and founder of the Forever Weston Foundation, she discusses the fentanyl crisis, peer pressure, and her fight for stronger borders and awareness.

Episode 113 begins with Mert, Matt Sambolin and Alex dive into facts and figures of Labor Day.  The show then shifts to an interview with Brendan Mahan, ADHD expert and host of the ADHD Essentials Podcast, who joins to discuss his new book Overcoming the Wall of Awful: Why It’s Hard to Get Things Done with ADHD, Autism, and Anxiety (and How to Do Them Anyway).

Our second hour opens with a discussion of President Trump’s order to substantially reduce annual joint military exercises with South Korea, citing his relationship with Kim Jong Un, the high U.S. costs, and Seoul’s refusal to join efforts against Iran. The move sparked sharp bipartisan criticism, raised questions about alliance reliability amid strong public support for the partnership on both sides, and fueled debate over whether “America First” strengthens or undermines long-standing deterrence against North Korea. The show then wraps with an interview featuring Prof. Robert Parkinson, a Binghamton University historian specializing in the American Revolution, whose new book Tyrants and Rogues examines the 27 specific grievances in the Declaration of Independence and the British figures behind them on the document’s 250th anniversary.

Episode 112 examines the viral debate over $20 burritos that began when a college student told Turning Point USA a burrito shouldn’t cost that much, turning a simple complaint into a symbol of inflation and everyday costs. Using real prices, inflation data, and surveys, it shows how delivery and extras can push a burrito to $20 while homemade or basic options stay far cheaper—and what that reveals about wages and affordability in 2026. The hour then shifts to an interview with Mike Lebowitz, a U.S. Army combat veteran, former Pathfinder officer, and senior DOJ National Security Division attorney who spent nearly a decade prosecuting 9/11, USS Cole, and top al Qaeda cases at Guantanamo Bay before serving as senior legal advisor to U.S. Army Cyber Command. His book Second Wave uncovers the 2003 intelligence discovery that al Qaeda had obtained nuclear materials and planned to smuggle them into American ports, the urgent multi-agency manhunt that followed, and the lasting questions it raises about national preparedness on the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

In our second hour, the hosts dig into Francesca Hong’s narrow loss in Wisconsin’s August 11 Democratic primary for governor. The democratic socialist led the polls, but Bernie Sanders and AOC stayed out, old statements on Thanksgiving, policing, and prisons came roaring back, and David Crowley pulled the upset. We track the progressive fractures, the establishment’s relief, and the bigger fight over candidate quality versus ideology in a real swing state. The show wraps with an interview featuring Christian Briggs, Economist & CEO of Hard Asset Management, Inc., a specialist in rare coins and precious metals with nearly 40 years of experience advising individuals and family offices on undervalued hard assets. Briggs explains why hard assets matter now—as a tangible store of value that can protect wealth against inflation, currency debasement, and market volatility when paper assets and digital currencies face growing uncertainty.

Episode 111 examines how two former NBA players’ declarations for the 2027 WNBA Draft have forced the league to confront its undefined eligibility rules and the broader clash between inclusion and sex-based competition. It also tracks the escalating responses—from Sophie Cunningham’s comments to the WNBPA’s refusal to be “political pawns”—as the WNBA faces a defining question about what the word “women” legally and competitively means. The show then shifts to an interview with Michael LeBlanc, a decorated Marine Corps major, Harvard Business School graduate, and entrepreneur who co-founded defense robotics company Foundation Future Industries after 13 years of service that included multiple Middle East deployments. In What If Anger Is the Answer?: A Harvard Marine’s Guide to Shaping Aggression, he argues that anger is not a flaw to suppress but a force that can be trained and channeled into courage, leadership, and purpose. Drawing on combat experience, ancient Greek philosophy, and Silicon Valley lessons, the book offers a practical framework for turning aggression into strength.

In our second hour we examine the record-breaking success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and how its story of a forgotten, isolated hero illuminates loneliness in modern life. Drawing on insights from Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and psychologist Pauline Boss, we explore why this emotionally resonant superhero tale has connected so powerfully with audiences worldwide. The show closes with an interview featuring Dr. Mark Evans, a composer, conductor, author, and founder of the Cultural Conservation foundation. Based in North Carolina, he hosts the television program Mark! My Words and has written definitive books on film scoring (including Soundtrack: The Music of the Movies) as well as cultural renewal. Through his foundation, he works to preserve America’s cultural heritage—music, language, history, and the arts—with the same care devoted to natural resources, promoting self-education to counter cultural decline.

Episode 110 opens with the absurd political circus around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. A rushed no-bid renovation for America 250 peeled and failed from botched contractor work—yet the administration invented sophisticated midnight vandals, charged a former Olympian with a felony, then watched the DOJ quietly drop the case while Trump kept pushing the vandalism story. It’s a perfect, embarrassing metaphor for a system that would rather invent saboteurs and scapegoats than simply admit a high-profile paint job went sideways. The show then shifts to an interview featuring Dr. K. Alan Stokes, a minister, storyteller, and author with degrees in psychology and pastoral counseling. In his latest book, Continuing Covenant: Extending His Faithfulness to a Thousand Generations, Stokes shares his faith journey—beginning even before his birth—as a reminder that God’s covenant continues through every generation.

During our second hour, the hosts frame the 2026 midterms as more than a left-right contest, asking whether voters are being moved more by economic pain, cultural identity, institutional distrust, or partisan loyalty. From affordability, health care, immigration, crime, Trump, and competing media narratives, the segment probes which party can best reach Americans who feel squeezed, suspicious, and unseen by those in power. The show then wraps with Scott Gibbs, author of Toward the Turning: Rethinking the Meaning of 9/11, the Clash of Civilizations, and a Postmodern World. Gibbs is a California-licensed psychotherapist whose book examines how inherited religious, national, and cultural identities can harden into destructive cycles of fear, blame, and violence, using 9/11 and the War on Terror as touchstones for a larger argument about moving beyond reactive, identity-driven conflict.

Episode 109 begins with a look at how Fauci’s newly released 2019–2022 diary exposes a pattern of private admissions that directly contradict the confident public claims he used to justify lockdowns, school closures, fatality projections, and the dismissal of lab‑leak concerns. The hosts lay out how those entries paint a portrait of a public‑health leader who told the nation one story while writing another — a gap that raises serious questions about honesty, accountability, and the credibility of America’s pandemic response. The program then shifts to an interview with Dr. Monica Vermani, author of A Deeper Wellness.  A Toronto‑based clinician with more than 25 years of experience treating trauma, anxiety, depression, and stress‑related disorders, she is internationally recognized for her integrative mind‑body approach to mental health.

In the second hour, the hosts examine how Smithsonian curators have shifted from evidence toward ideology—most sharply illustrated by an exhibit that cast Benjamin Franklin as a speculative villain (including unsupported claims about electroshock on enslaved people) and by the museum director’s public “no regrets” stance. The controversy is framed as part of a larger pattern in which a national museum increasingly presents America’s origins through suspicion and indictment rather than the full, complex record of both failures and achievements. The show then wraps with Dave Rossi, author of the international bestseller Alphas Die Early, which dismantles the toxic “alpha male” myth and offers a blueprint for building strength through humility, purpose, and emotional intelligence.

Episode 108 opens with a look at Hasan Piker as a magnetic yet deeply polarizing force in progressive politics—a streamer whose large influence among young men collides with a record of incendiary rhetoric frequently criticized as anti-American and antisemitic. The hosts examine how his moralized, all-or-nothing style energizes some candidates while injecting heightened contempt and division into the broader political culture. The hour then turns to an interview with Lanny Davis, the veteran Washington attorney, crisis-management strategist, and longtime political adviser. His latest book, Finding the Third Way: Lessons in the Politics of Civility from My Journey Through History, explores how leaders can reclaim civility, compromise, and democratic trust amid escalating polarization.

Our second hour begins with a sharp, fact‑driven examination of election integrity — from Trump’s declassified claims and Secretary Mullin’s warnings to polling that shows polarized national trust but consistently strong confidence in local election officials. The hosts break down expert reactions, documented fraud rates, and shifting GOP voter loyalty, revealing a republic grappling with vulnerabilities, perception, and turnout intensity.  The show then wraps with Leslie Lee Sanders, author of Ready to Listen?, who shares the personal journey behind her spiritual self-help memoir and the lessons it offers on reclaiming one’s inner voice, trusting intuition, and navigating conflict and connection. Her conversation brings a thoughtful, human close centered on the book’s themes of listening, self-discovery, and renewed purpose.

Episode 107 opens with a hard look at the Democratic Party’s accelerating shift toward socialism — driven by Zohran Mamdani’s New York City victory and a platform built on wealth taxes, expanded government control, and deep structural overhaul — despite blunt warnings from Trump, Vance, Manchin, and other national figures. The hosts trace the causes behind this surge and argue that the movement threatens the American Dream by replacing merit and opportunity with rationing, envy, and bureaucratic power.  The hour then turns to Steve & Dr. Kathy Boyls, authors of I’VE BEEN TO HEAVEN, who share their extraordinary story and the insights that shaped their new book. Together, they bring a powerful, personal perspective that shifts the conversation from politics to faith, hope, and lived experience.

In our second hour the hosts examine the decision by Turkey and Egypt to bar the LGBTQ+ chartered cruise ship Scarlet Lady from their ports, tracing the incident across four fault lines: the cynical use of religious doctrine as political cover, the deafening silence of a U.S. government that funds Egypt and arms Turkey through NATO, the civil rights dimensions of identity-based exclusion of eleven hundred American citizens, and the deepest irony of all — that the very community turned away at sea has been among the loudest defenders of Muslim civil rights on American soil. The show then wraps with an interview with Alicia Scovill, retired U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant, President and owner of Scovill Construction & Contracting Services, LLC, and a passionate veterans advocate and keynote speaker who works to build veteran-friendly workplaces and stronger support systems for those who have served our country.

Episode 106 opens with a critical look at a Texas hospital’s discounted “birth packages” for foreign nationals — a move that ignited a political firestorm, triggered a state investigation, and thrust birthright citizenship back into the national spotlight. The issue now sits squarely inside a larger constitutional and immigration clash as leaders battle over the 14th Amendment, birth tourism, and what reforms, if any, should come next. The show then shifts to an interview with Col. Kurt Schlichter — he’s a retired Army Infantry colonel and seasoned trial lawyer whose practice focuses on winning complex civil litigation for business and insurance clients.  He’s also a nationally known commentator, bestselling novelist, and upcoming author of American Warlord, appearing frequently on Fox News, Newsmax, and major media outlets, and he breaks down how we should think about power, conflict, and the future of American resilience.

Our second hour opens with Pete Najarian, co‑founder of Market Rebellion. Najarian delivers the kind of clarity Wall Street rarely offers: direct, unvarnished, and grounded in real‑world experience. He cuts through volatility, opportunity, and the psychological traps driving today’s markets. No jargon. No mystique. Just a straight look at what’s moving, why it’s moving, and what everyday investors keep getting wrong. From the financial trenches, we shift to the workplace battlefield with Dr. Lois P. Frankel, bestselling author of Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office. Her work is a cultural touchstone for women navigating professional power structures. She doesn’t tiptoe around the habits, expectations, and biases that still shape workplace dynamics. She names them, dissects them, and gives listeners tools to challenge them. It’s part coaching session, part cultural critique, part wake‑up call — delivered with the wit and authority that made her book a global phenomenon.

Episode 105 opens with a stark truth: America is living through a loneliness epidemic so widespread that the Surgeon General warns it harms both individual and societal health. From collapsing social infrastructure to the rise of AI companions, the hour traces how isolation became a national crisis — and why millions now turn to machines for the connection they can’t find in each other.  The show then shifts to Terrlyn L. Curry Avery, Ph.D., MDiv., whose work bridges spirituality, psychology, and racial healing. Her book Dismantling Racism: Healing Separation from the Inside Out examines prejudice as a lived experience shaping families, communities, and institutions. Rev. Dr. Avery brings pastoral warmth and analytical rigor, guiding listeners through the emotional and moral architecture of racism with clarity, compassion, and unflinching honesty.