Surviving Trump: With Democracy On Life Support

Welcome to Surviving Trump, a podcast dedicated to navigating the next four-plus years with our sanity intact—and, more importantly, doing our part to defend democracy. Hosted by Bella Goode, this show unpacks the threats facing democracy under Trump’s leadership and explores the key figures, ideologies, and institutions shaping our political reality.

In this introductory episode, Bella shares the personal journey that led to the creation of this podcast, from the aftermath of the election to her decision to take action. She outlines what to expect in the upcoming episodes, including a deep dive into Trump, his administration, his allies, and the media landscape that fuels his power. Plus, meet the Blue Choir, a rotating panel of engaged citizens offering their perspectives each week.

If you’re ready to stay informed, stay engaged, and fight for democracy—this podcast is for you.

Next Episodes:

• Episode 1 Preview of coming episodes 
• Episode 2 Democracy on the Brink- We cover the pillars of free and fair elections and the rule of law: what the Constitution says, what actions Trump and his Administration are taking to chip away at democracy and what’s being done to stop them.

Transcript

Bella Goode  00:00

Hi there everyone, and welcome to Surviving Trump. My name is Bella, Bella Goode, and I'm your host for this podcast. Let's begin at the beginning. On the morning after the election, my husband and I began a 16 hour drive from Yosemite National Park in California back to Colorado, where we live. That's a long time to think. That's a long time to cry, to stare blurry eyed out the window. What on earth had just happened? It was unfathomable. I think I was going to have a mental breakdown. I know, I know we all handle grief and disappointment in different ways. Lots of people, I know they were also devastated, and they're still devastated. And some of my friends, well, they retreated. No more news for them. 

"I don't want to talk about it. I'm taking up knitting. I'm joining a monastery." 

And then there were others, like my husband Rich, who tried to reassure.

"Oh, we'll be okay. Let's just motor on. Let's take each day as it comes." 

At that moment I wanted to strangle him for me. The election knocked me off my feet. I supported Biden, and then I supported Harris, and every day I posted on social media. I was relentless, probably annoying a lot of people, but quite frankly, I liked it. It was like having a support group. I felt I was on a mission to keep Trump out of the White House. 

Still driving home, crying, ruminating, driving Rich crazy. Part of my anguish was I felt like I was losing a sense of purpose I had before the election, fighting for a cause. And in this case, I felt it was a cause of a lifetime. Somewhere crossing the state of Utah, I came to the realization that I had to continue the fight. I liked being retired, but having the added dimension of purpose before the election, well, it made me satisfied. It gave me an element of fulfillment. So I hit upon the idea of continuing to communicate. 

By this point, I was a little burned out by social media, and I wanted to try something else. Okay, what about a podcast? Well, I barely know anything about podcasting at all. I barely know what it is, totally out of my comfort zone, but still, it was a pretty intriguing idea and certainly worth investigating. A couple of thoughts and concepts started to form, fuzzy, yes, but enough to get started. So here's where I landed. 

As the name suggested, this podcast is about getting through the next four years, or four plus years, with our sanity intact. More importantly, it's about doing our part, however big or small, to defend democracy, because let's be clear, democracy is at risk under Trump's leadership. I believe that, and if you're listening, I suspect that you do too. So what's the plan? What am I going to cover? Well, if we're going to fight back, we need to understand what we're fighting for, and we need to understand who we're up against. That means taking a good, hard look at democracy and what's at stake, what we stand to lose if the current administration prevails, and doing a deep dive into the key and supporting players, the people steering this ship into authoritarian waters. 

We're going to analyze, we'll analyze Trump himself, his end game, his psychological profile, that's the piece that really interests me, and the patterns of behavior that have brought us to this point. Will analyze his right hand man, Elon Musk, the guy who's calling the Co-president, the cabinet and key appointments, the GOP leaders in Congress, the House and Senate, his supreme court, supporters, the ideology behind the mandates, like Project 2025 and America First. 

Then we'll look at the influencers. These are people, maybe you haven't heard of them before, but Viktor Orbán of Hungary, the head of Hungary and Curtis Yarvin. He's a very strange and he's a dangerous soul, but they are having an influence on the people running this country. And finally, we'll take a look at the mouthpiece. I'm talking about, Trump and Musk's media apparatus, including social media platforms and far right boosters who amplify their messages. 

All this information is what I think of as Civics 101. It's contained in part one of this podcast, and it includes somewhere around 20 to 25 episodes. With foundational knowledge in government and politics, the next four years for all of us could be infinitely more manageable, and it could help make us more informed and help us take action as the inevitable challenges arise. Which brings me to another interesting aspect of this show. 

Each week, I'll tap into a rotating panel of everyday people who care about saving democracy. They come from my network, their networks and beyond. They're engaged, they're passionate, and they have something to say. I call them The Blue Choir. I pose a question to The Choir based on each topic, and their responses are then woven into the relevant episodes. It's not a static group, people join, people drop out. Some share long thoughts others hit us with sharp one liners, but all of them care, and their voices will be heard. 

Well, I've done a lot of talking without saying much about who I am. Here's the two cent version. I grew up in a middle class family in Pennsylvania, the youngest of five. My parents and grandparents were generational Republicans. I too was a Republican up until 2016 when I decided it was time to vote the candidate and not the party. The fallout from Trump has affected my entire family. Half of my siblings are MAGAs, which drives me crazy, and the other half are true blue. We are, as you probably aren't surprised, we are estranged which could make for an interesting episode down the road. 

I'm a graduate of Syracuse University and the University of Pennsylvania, where I have a Master's of Business Administration from Wharton and a Master's degree in Positive Psychology. Career wise, I spent 20 years with American Express in New York, and 20 years as an entrepreneur, I started and sold a fitness business that grew to about 180 locations worldwide. To begin with, I cleaned toilets at that first gym I opened, which was not my favorite job. 

So with that, I hope you will join me in this mission. I want you to find comfort and courage from the information that I share, that we share together. I do have two requests, though, leave comments. The transcript for today's episode is available along with references and links. Start a discussion, ask questions, challenge ideas. We are a community. Leave a review. If this podcast resonates with you, let me know. If it doesn't, tell me that too I want to get this right. Should I keep going? Should I tweak the approach? Your honesty is invaluable. Oh, and follow me on Blue Sky. I'm @SurvivingTrump. 

Until next time, stay engaged, stay informed, and most importantly, keep up the fight. This is Bella Goode, signing off for now.