It Could Happen Here

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file.
How to Rob a City: NBA Billionaire Edition

How the United States Built its Colonial Empire, Pt. 2
Sophie Cunningham's Transphobic WNBA Panic

DHS Surveillance and Infiltration of ICE Protests in Minnesota

Executive Disorder: Mail-In Voting Restrictions, Canadian Trade War, Record High ICE Detentions

You can now listen to all Cool Zone Media shows, 100% ad-free through the Cooler Zone Media subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. So, open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “Cooler Zone Media” and subscribe today!
Sources/Links:
How to Rob a City: NBA Billionaire Edition
https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-dundon/
https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-nbas-newest-cheapest-owner-shows-how-billionaires-ruin-sports
https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/03/tom-dundon-blazers-subprime-loan/
https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/investment-riches-built-on-auto-loans-to-poor/#:~:text=Ms.,the%20loan%20with%20her%20daughter
https://www.youtube.com/live/UD8erzI72Fg
https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/shadow-bank-blue-owl-caps-021700097.html
https://wealth.blueowl.com/solutions/investment-strategy-real-assets-digital-infrastructure
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-04/blue-owl-fund-sells-warehouse-to-dhs-for-ice-mega-jail
https://youtu.be/3BqOjrFFNK0
https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.14.3.95
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecin.12572
https://belkcollegeofbusiness.charlotte.edu/economic-working-papers/wp-content/uploads/sites/850/2012/10/wp2016-014.pdf
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/economics-hosting-olympic-games
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24131508_Mega-Events_The_effect_of_the_world's_biggest_sporting_events_on_local_regional_and_national_economies
https://econjwatch.org/file_download/222/2008-09-coateshumphreys-com.pdf
https://econjwatch.org/file_download/222/2008-09-coateshumphreys-com.pdf
https://media.clemson.edu/economics/data/sports/Stadiums%20and%20Econ%20Impact/Matheson-2019-Journal_of_Policy_Analysis_and_Management.pdf
https://www.blazersedge.com/trail-blazers-analysis/114957/portland-moda-center-portland-trail-blazers-arena-revenue-debate-sports-teams-city-revenue-taxes-deal
https://www.kjzz.org/business/2026-05-10/diversification-matters-glendale-says-desert-diamond-arena-is-thriving-post-hockey
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/oakland-arena-coliseum-record-best-fiscal-year-of-all-time-after-sold-out-bad-bunny-k-pop-concerts/
https://oaklandside.org/2026/06/16/how-hot-is-the-oakland-arena-a-second-bidder-has-emerged-to-buy-it/
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/keyarena-turns-a-bigger-profit-than-it-ever-did-with-the-sonics/
https://journalistsresource.org/economics/sports-stadium-public-financing/
https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/07/03/smith-entertainment-group-estimates-spending-525-million-remodeling-delta-center/
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/20/trail-blazers-moda-center-portland-basketball-sports/
https://www.ripcitynotripoff.com
https://weareripcity.org/#supporters
https://www.opb.org/article/2026/07/16/portland-councilors-release-draft-term-sheet-as-business-coalition-presses-for-public-moda-center-funding/
https://multnomah.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7145153/2026/03/25/nba-expansion-seattle-las-vegas/
How the United States Built its Colonial Empire, Pt. 2
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr

Colonial Crucible: Empire in the Making of the Modern American State edited by Alfred W. McCoy and Francisco A. Scarano

The Anarchy of Empire in the Making of U.S. Culture by Amy Kaplan

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/182/244/

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/182/1/

https://theconversation.com/why-russia-gave-up-alaska-americas-gateway-to-the-arctic-74675?xid=PS_smithsonian

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-CARIBBEAN/MILITARY-BUILDUP/egpbbnzyrpq/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/magazine/venezuela-empires-colony.html

https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-us-state-trump-rodriguez-chavismo-silence-634203c885803b018ecd8ac012bb249d

https://time.com/article/2026/06/02/trump-annex-canada-51st-state-rhetoric-carney-us-partnership-message/

https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/28/nyregion/new-light-on-old-fbi-fight-decades-of-surveillance-of-puerto-rican-groups.html

https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/atc/1685.html

https://theconversation.com/us-territories-have-a-voice-in-congress-but-no-vote-heres-why-283547

https://www.nminewsservice.com/cnmi-covenant-united-states-50th-anniversary-explainer-timeline/

https://apnews.com/article/american-samoa-voting-citizenship-alaska-trump-eda6c32ce0fcdca6edb22efac26e403d

https://elecciones2024.ceepur.org/Escrutinio_General_123/index.html#es/default/PLEBISCITO_Resumen.xml

https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099257005212415735

https://www.doi.gov/oia/compacts-of-free-association

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/30/puerto-rico-independence-movement

https://time.com/7024574/puerto-rico-status-vote/

https://www.uog.edu/_resources/files/schools-and-colleges/college-of-liberal-arts-and-social-sciences/droessler_whose-pacific.pdf

https://juntasupervision.pr.gov/abril-y-mayo-2025/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/21/trump-strait-of-hormuz-american-territory
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/20/politics/trump-iran-war-strait-of-hormuz
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:School_Begins_(Puck_Magazine_1-25-1899).jpg
Las carpetas: persecución política y derechos civiles en Puerto Rico by Ramón Bosque Pérez y Javier Colón Morera

Soldiers of the Nation: Military Service and Modern Puerto Rico, 1868-1952 by Harry Franqui-Rivera

Sophie Cunningham's Transphobic WNBA Panic
https://www.thefrankiedlc.news/
@thefrankiedlc
@bugsmaytrix.bsky.social
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-everything-is-wrestling-336405745/
DHS Surveillance and Infiltration of ICE Protests in Minnesota
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73489661/united-states-v-sant/
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.0_6.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.3_3.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.5_5.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.7_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.10_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.8_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.9_5.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.12_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.11_5.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.21_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.22_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.23_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.24_4.pdf
https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1446251/dl
inline=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X3DhFnngDY
Executive Disorder: Mail-In Voting Restrictions, Canadian Trade War, Record High ICE Detentions
https://pridesource.com/article/dolly-parton-tribute
https://people.com/dolly-parton-says-she-loves-and-does-not-judge-the-lgbtq-community-8386722
https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/08/designation-of-autistici-inventati-as-a-specially-designated-global-terrorist/
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0616/
https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2026/08/18/usda-acts-remove-roadless-rule-restrictions-exacerbate-rising-wildfire-risk
https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/planning/roadless
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/22/us-canada-trade-deal-01046788
https://www.npr.org/2026/08/24/nx-s1-5942971/u-s-treasury-launches-economic-d-day-against-iran-as-war-drags-on
https://thehill.com/newsletters/morning-report/6048370-scott-bessent-trump-administration-slow-roll-iran-war-sanctions/
https://newrepublic.com/post/214646/trump-worker-visa-fees-immigration
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/world/canada/trump-carney-trade-war-tariffs.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqxvj1zd4qjo
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/iran-vows-retaliation-u-widens-115405636.html
https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-drought-disaster-usda-farmers-water-b4fe620ecbb2272576e79d140f0180dd
https://www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsalias/washington-dc/notas/agricultura-federal-declara-una-emergencia-en-26-municipios-de-puerto-rico-a-causa-de-la-sequia/
https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/ice-informants/2026/illinois-prosecutors-helping-ice/
https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/ice-informants/2026/illinois-trust-act-violations-immigrants-deported/
https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/Safer-Communities/Resources-for-Law-Enforcement/Law-Enforcement-and-Immigration/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC1X9shmR24
https://x.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/2092303479054225809?s=20
https://deportationdata.org/news/2026-08-24-ICE-release.html
https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/251258.P.pdf
https://app.deportationdata.org/?agency=ice&dataset=detention-stays&tab=chart&s=eJxVyDEKhEAMQNG7_HqEWRd2IZcJKoOKTCIabcS7W_vKd3Ei38QeXSAMflho777MtpOIuRaE6hYTibE4gqq5FVUS47a-o64IbW5_Tf43-cP9AO8gHXk
https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2026-08/OIG-26-23-Aug26.pdf
https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-17238.pdf
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a124_hgci.pdf
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/26/trump-usps-mail-voting-rule-lawsuit-states-supreme-court.html
https://archive.is/20260818151459/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/18/pentagon-evaluating-smaller-us-military-presence-persian-gulf-after-iran-war/#selection-1117.0-1121.36
https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2026-08-21/bahrain-evacuation-military-families-navy-22618186.html
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-08-21/stars-and-stripes-publisher-editor-reporter-separated-22620671.html
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The gang discuss the death of Dolly Parton, a drought in Puerto Rico, SCOTUS allowing Trump to implement his executive order on mail-in voting, trade negotiations falling apart with Canada, how police are circumventing sanctuary policies, and the chaotic evacuation of a U.S. base in Bahrain.

Sources:
https://pridesource.com/article/dolly-parton-tribute
https://people.com/dolly-parton-says-she-loves-and-does-not-judge-the-lgbtq-community-8386722
https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/08/designation-of-autistici-inventati-as-a-specially-designated-global-terrorist/
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0616/
https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2026/08/18/usda-acts-remove-roadless-rule-restrictions-exacerbate-rising-wildfire-risk
https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/planning/roadless
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/22/us-canada-trade-deal-01046788
https://www.npr.org/2026/08/24/nx-s1-5942971/u-s-treasury-launches-economic-d-day-against-iran-as-war-drags-on
https://thehill.com/newsletters/morning-report/6048370-scott-bessent-trump-administration-slow-roll-iran-war-sanctions/
https://newrepublic.com/post/214646/trump-worker-visa-fees-immigration
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/world/canada/trump-carney-trade-war-tariffs.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqxvj1zd4qjo
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/iran-vows-retaliation-u-widens-115405636.html
https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-drought-disaster-usda-farmers-water-b4fe620ecbb2272576e79d140f0180dd
https://www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsalias/washington-dc/notas/agricultura-federal-declara-una-emergencia-en-26-municipios-de-puerto-rico-a-causa-de-la-sequia/
https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/ice-informants/2026/illinois-prosecutors-helping-ice/
https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/ice-informants/2026/illinois-trust-act-violations-immigrants-deported/
https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/Safer-Communities/Resources-for-Law-Enforcement/Law-Enforcement-and-Immigration/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC1X9shmR24
https://x.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/2092303479054225809?s=20
https://deportationdata.org/news/2026-08-24-ICE-release.html
https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/251258.P.pdf
https://app.deportationdata.org/?agency=ice&dataset=detention-stays&tab=chart&s=eJxVyDEKhEAMQNG7_HqEWRd2IZcJKoOKTCIabcS7W_vKd3Ei38QeXSAMflho777MtpOIuRaE6hYTibE4gqq5FVUS47a-o64IbW5_Tf43-cP9AO8gHXk
https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2026-08/OIG-26-23-Aug26.pdf
https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-17238.pdf
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a124_hgci.pdf
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/26/trump-usps-mail-voting-rule-lawsuit-states-supreme-court.html
https://archive.is/20260818151459/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/18/pentagon-evaluating-smaller-us-military-presence-persian-gulf-after-iran-war/#selection-1117.0-1121.36
https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2026-08-21/bahrain-evacuation-military-families-navy-22618186.html
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-08-21/stars-and-stripes-publisher-editor-reporter-separated-22620671.html
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Garrison outlines what we know about how DHS investigated anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis and new discovery documents revealing Homeland Security Investigations reports on financial probes of activist groups and labor unions.
Sources:
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73489661/united-states-v-sant/
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.0_6.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.3_3.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.5_5.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.7_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.10_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.8_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.9_5.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.12_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.11_5.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.21_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.22_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.23_4.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.24_4.pdf
https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1446251/dl?inline=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X3DhFnngDY
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mia talks with trans sports journalist Frankie de la Cruz and former trans college athlete Bugsmaytrix about WNBA bit player Sophie Cunningham's pivot to transphobia and the right's war on trans people.
Links:
https://www.thefrankiedlc.news/
@thefrankiedlc
+
@bugsmaytrix.bsky.social
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-everything-is-wrestling-336405745/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Journalist Carlos Berríos Polanco talks with James about how the United States acquired its inhabited overseas colonies, why the constitution doesn't fully apply there, and what it means as Trump says he wants to add new territories or states.
How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr

Colonial Crucible: Empire in the Making of the Modern American State edited by Alfred W. McCoy and Francisco A. Scarano

The Anarchy of Empire in the Making of U.S. Culture by Amy Kaplan

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/182/244/

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/182/1/

https://theconversation.com/why-russia-gave-up-alaska-americas-gateway-to-the-arctic-74675?xid=PS_smithsonian

https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-CARIBBEAN/MILITARY-BUILDUP/egpbbnzyrpq/

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/magazine/venezuela-empires-colony.html

https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-us-state-trump-rodriguez-chavismo-silence-634203c885803b018ecd8ac012bb249d

https://time.com/article/2026/06/02/trump-annex-canada-51st-state-rhetoric-carney-us-partnership-message/

https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/28/nyregion/new-light-on-old-fbi-fight-decades-of-surveillance-of-puerto-rican-groups.html

https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/atc/1685.html

https://theconversation.com/us-territories-have-a-voice-in-congress-but-no-vote-heres-why-283547

https://www.nminewsservice.com/cnmi-covenant-united-states-50th-anniversary-explainer-timeline/

https://apnews.com/article/american-samoa-voting-citizenship-alaska-trump-eda6c32ce0fcdca6edb22efac26e403d

https://elecciones2024.ceepur.org/Escrutinio_General_123/index.html#es/default/PLEBISCITO_Resumen.xml

https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099257005212415735

https://www.doi.gov/oia/compacts-of-free-association

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/30/puerto-rico-independence-movement

https://time.com/7024574/puerto-rico-status-vote/

https://www.uog.edu/_resources/files/schools-and-colleges/college-of-liberal-arts-and-social-sciences/droessler_whose-pacific.pdf

https://juntasupervision.pr.gov/abril-y-mayo-2025/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/21/trump-strait-of-hormuz-american-territory
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/20/politics/trump-iran-war-strait-of-hormuz
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:School_Begins_(Puck_Magazine_1-25-1899).jpg
Las carpetas: persecución política y derechos civiles en Puerto Rico by Ramón Bosque Pérez y Javier Colón Morera

Soldiers of the Nation: Military Service and Modern Puerto Rico, 1868-1952 by Harry Franqui-Rivera

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.