Propaganda, Paid For: Inside City Hall's Influencer Machine

You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avallone and Stephen Parr. This is the full show for September 3, 2026. We open by digging into Enos Cantor Freedom's federal lawsuit against the Chicago Sky, the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, and the city of Chicago after he was escorted out of a WNBA game and banned from Wintrust Arena for wearing a shirt defining womanhood and cheering for the Indiana Fever. We walk through the video of his confrontation with Sky guard Natasha Cloud and debate whether he was singled out for his viewpoint rather than any actual rule violation, and what that means for his First Amendment claim. From there we hit our Top 3 things you need to know: the Ninth Circuit allowing Idaho's abortion ban to take effect for now, ICE setting a new record with 51,000 detentions in August as three million illegal immigrants have left or been removed since President Trump returned to office, and a federal judge tossing the DOJ's lawsuit against California's law letting biological males compete in girls' sports. Our American Mamas, Teri Netterville and Kimberly Burleson, join us to answer why 85-year-old actress Donna Mills has launched an OnlyFans page, which spins into a broader conversation about the platform, a politically outspoken creator monetizing her looks alongside her commentary, and the personal costs that can come with that kind of income. We Dig Deep on two fronts: a Maine Supreme Court ruling that a mother cannot take her 12-year-old daughter to church without the father's consent amid the parents' custody dispute over religion, and a Columbia Journalism Review report on New York City Mayor Mamdani's office paying influencers with taxpayer money to spread city messaging on immigration and tenants' rights, which we argue crosses the line from public information into propaganda. We also talk about North Carolina's Roy Cooper calling for healthcare over handcuffs for jailed offenders, and why we think that overlooks crime victims, before landing on a Bright Spot out of Pittsburgh, where a church is reporting a wave of young people, including hundreds of University of Pittsburgh students, coming forward for baptism. We close out with George Clooney warning about the rich and powerful while accepting a lifetime achievement award, and a father-son team in Michigan fixing cars for neighbors who can't afford repairs. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, visit AmericanGroundRadio.com, and join the conversation at 866-AGR-1776. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.